Turnabout Hearts II
by EmeraldWings1992
Summary: BK 2 - Stranded in Twilight Town, Aurora tries to make the best of her situation. Meanwhile, Roxas is reaching the end of his Summer Vacation, and Sora's next journey is about to begin. But the Organization will stop at nothing to reach their goals, and Aurora's destiny is quickly intertwining with the Keyblade Wielders and the battle they will soon have to face.
1. Day One: Twilight Town

**A/N:** I'M ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! Taking a break from drawing the story board for my assignment to type up the first chapter of _Turnabout Hearts II._

First thing's first: the Wright Anything Agency does not appear in this story until near the end. That's because, at this point, they are doing other things (all stories on this account happen in the same universe for you new readers).

BUT, Phoenix is a huge part of _Turnabout Hearts – Distance_ , which is the sequel to this one. AND there's another Ace Attorney canon character who plays a part of this story, even if it's mostly behind the scenes in this one. He was in the first _Turnabout Hearts,_ but no one seemed to get it.

Alright, well, here we go! We're jumping right into the game!

…

 **Part One – Sleeping Hearts**

Chapter One: Day One – Twilight Town

It was quieter than usual today in the Usual Spot. The five friends, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Aurora, and Roxas had all met up, as usual, but the only one talking was Hayner, who was ranting to Pence. Aurora and Olette shared the couch, listening to them, while Roxas was lost in his own thoughts, staring at his hands.

Overhead, the trains could be heard going back and forth on their tracks, as the permanently setting sun filtered through the slots in the roof.

"Man, doesn't that tick you off?" Hayner demanded.

"Yeah, that's just wrong," Pence agreed, crossing his arms.

"It's not like they have evidence or anything," Aurora said, frowning.

Olette nodded. "Seifer's gone too far this time," she said passionately.

Everyone turned to Roxas. As though sensing it, he looked up at the four and nodded.

With his own determined nod, Hayner jumped up from the thing he was sitting on and slowly walked forward as he talked. "I mean, it's true that stuff's been stolen around town. And we've got a score to settle with Seifer and everything. So, if he wants to think we did it, I can't really blame him. See, that's not what really bugs me," Hayner said off-handedly.

"Even if there's still no evidence that we were anywhere near _any_ of the crime scenes," Aurora grumbled, crossing her own arms. Olette smiled sympathetically at her, putting a hand on her arm in a calming way.

Hayner shook his head, his voice getting even more fiery, "What _really_ bugs me is that he's going around tellin' everybody that we're the thieves! Now the whole town and their mothers are treating us like the Klepto Club!" He stopped and whirled to face Roxas, who he was level with. "Have you ever been this ticked off before in your life?" he demanded, his gestures accentuated by his anger. "'Cause I haven't! Nuh-uh, NEVER!" Hayner looked forward again, punching his fist into his palm. "Now… what to do."

"Beating them up won't change the Town's opinion on us," Aurora said. "Even if it'll make you feel better."

Hayner turned and threw her a glare, but there was no real heat behind it. For her, at least.

Olette, on the other hand, turned and stared at Roxas, her green eyes boring into the side of his head. Roxas felt it and turned, meeting her eye for a moment, before looking forward again with a shrug.

"Uh, well…" His eyes flickered around in thought, before he got an idea and looked up again. "We could find the real thieves. That would set the record straight," he said. Aurora perked up at that.

"Like an investigation!" she said. Roxas nodded at her.

"Yeah."

"That does sound life fun!" Pence agreed, standing.

"What about Seifer?" Hayner demanded.

Roxas also stood. "First, we gotta clear out names. Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off our backs," he said as Pence walked over to his bag, pulling out his camera. Aurora smiled, standing, a determined look on her face. Hayner growled in frustration.

"Oh, no!" Pence suddenly gasped. Everyone turned to him. He was holding his camera, a panicked look on his face. "They're gone! Our [ ] are gone!" The panicked look was replaced by confusion, and he put a hand to his throat, opening his mouth again as though trying to say something that just wouldn't come out. "Wha?"

"All our [ ], gone?" Hayner demanded, before looking surprised and putting his own hand to his throat, trying to say it as well.

"But how? It's not like we left those [ ] just laying around!" Aurora added, before her own hand jumped to her throat, her eyes wide. Olette gasped.

"You can't say -. Why not?" she asked.

"But you do understand what I'm saying, right?" Pence demanded. "Out - are gone!"

"Stolen…" Roxas had, putting a hand to his mouth thoughtfully. He clenched his hand into a fist, letting it drop down to his side again as he turned to his four friends. "And not just the [ ]. The word [ ]. They stole it, too!"

"That should be impossible!" Aurora gasped softly.

"What kind of thief is that?" Hayner demanded, crossing his arms. "Seifer could never have pulled that off."

"I don't think Seifer is the thief," Aurora said, crossing her own arms. "The evidence just doesn't add up."

"Yeah!" Roxas agreed with a nod.

"Alright, time for some recon," Hayner said, uncrossing his arms and holding his fists at his side. Hayner took off running, Pence, Olette, and Aurora following after. Roxas started to follow, when he suddenly felt dizzy.

"Huh?" he gasped as he stumbled, before collapsing.

He only blacked out for a few seconds before pushing himself up, back onto his feet with a groan, brushing his clothes off. "Huh?" he muttered, looking around in confusion. Aurora walked back into the usual spot, having been sent back to find him.

"Roxas," she said with a smile. "C'mon."

Roxas nodded and followed her out into town.

The group first decided to go to Market Street: Tram Commons. It was the biggest area in town, with the most shops. At the candy shop, the little old lady, the owner, admitted she didn't think Roxas would steal anything, and asked him to find her cat. Another shop owner said they didn't think Roxas would do such a thing, and another said that only Roxas would. Aurora frowned at notes she had taken during their investigation.

"It's not that they think _we_ did it," Aurora finally said. "But that they think _Roxas_ did it."

"But why me?" Roxas asked, looking at her.

"I don't know. Until we know everything that was stolen, there's no way to tell, either," Aurora replied, nibbling on the end of her pen.

Hayner growled in frustration. "This is just great! It doesn't make any sense!" he complained, causing the others to laugh.

Then they made the mistake of entering the Sandlot.

Three people were visible. Fuu, Rai, and Vivi. Fuu and Rai had their backs to the gang, but Vivi spotted them and jumped, pointing. The other two turned to face them.

"Thieves," Fuu said, pointing at them.

"Excuse me?" Aurora demanded, feeling personally insulted by that.

"That was low, y'know!" Rai added. Vivi simply grabbed his hat, pulling it down to cover his eyes.

"Oh yeah?" Hayner growled.

"Nice comeback there, blondie," a new voice said off to the side. The gang looked over to see Seifer walking over to them from one of the other Sandlot entrances.

"What'd you say?" Hayner demanded, only getting angrier. Seifer stopped walking and focused on Roxas, ignoring the rest.

"You can give us back the [ ] now," he said, not even seeming to notice the absence of the word. Aurora made another note in her book, frowning at how the evidence seemed to be stacking up against Roxas.

"Yeah! You're the only ones who would take it, y'know?" Rai added. Seifer began walking around them, pointing at Roxas.

"That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers." He dropped his arm. "So, what did you do? Burn it?" He stopped in front of his hang. "Ha, not that we need some - to prove that you're losers," he added with a shrug.

"Replay!" Fuu said.

Seifer laughed. "Now you're talking!" he said, before he, Fuu, and Rai got into fighting stances, ready to fight.

Olette and Pence stepped back, but Roxas, Hayner, and Aurora got into their own stances, facing off against the three.

Seifer smirked. "I guess if you get on your knees and beg, MAYBE I'll let it slide," he said. Hayner growled slightly, while Aurora ground her teeth together. On the other hand, Roxas suddenly stood up straight and walked forward, moving so that he was right in front of Seifer. Hayner reached for him, and Aurora tried to grab his arm as he passed her. Neither worked.

Roxas took a deep breath, ignoring as Fuu and Rai started to laugh, and dropped to his knees. Seifer smirked, crossing his arms.

"Roxas!" Hayner yelled, sounding horrified. Aurora glanced back at Pence and Olette, seeing the same distress in their face.

Roxas smirked at the ground however, spotting exactly what he was hoping for. Right by Rai's left foot, was a Struggle Baton. He suddenly exploded from the ground, taking all three by surprise, and snatched it up, whirling to face them. Vivi, who was no fighter, darted backwards and away from the skirmish. Seifer growled and pulled his own baton out, waving for Rai and Fuu to back up and give them space.

As the four watched, it was like Roxas had suddenly taken a few levels in sword fighting. His stance was perfectly balanced, and he was a terror with the Struggle Baton. Seifer was good, but nowhere near as good as Roxas, who quickly handed him his butt on a silver platter.

Seifer finally dropped to his knees, dropping his Struggle Baton. Thinking this might be a trap, Roxas stayed in a ready position.

"Heh," Seifer muttered, looking away. Rai and Fuu were suddenly there, standing in front of him.

"Seifer's not feelin' so hot, y'know!" Rai said.

"Tournament decides!" Fuu added, talking about the Struggle Championship in a few days. Aurora grinned, while Hayner laughed at that. Pence stepped forward, bringing up his camera. Roxas turned to face his friends, and Pence managed to get a candid shot of him, before giving a thumbs up with a smile.

Suddenly, a silver blur whirled around the boy in red before taking off towards Tram Commons.

"Whoa!" Pence gasped, before looking at his hand. The camera was gone. The group looked towards the exit to see something silver, almost ghost like, moving further away from them.

"What was that?" Hayner asked, disbelief evident in his voice.

"The thief?" Olette asked. At those words, the five friends glanced at each other and ran forward, chasing after it. In Tram Commons, they lost it and decided to split up. Hayner and Pence searched the north side, Aurora and Olette searched the Tram garage, and Roxas searched the south.

By the time the girls met up with Hayner and Pence again, they realized that the thing was no longer in Tram Common's. Roxas was also gone, which only meant one thing.

Before they could move, however, Roxas was running over to them, carrying a small bundle in his hand.

"Come on, guys, let's get back to the Usual Spot," he huffed, leading the way. The others followed, worried about their friend.

…

Once they got back, and Roxas caught his breath, he handed the bundle to Aurora. The group gathered around, staring at what she was holding.

The first was a picture of Roxas, standing next to a shop keeper. "What's this?" Hayner asked.

"I was his first customer after he took over the shop," Roxas said. "So we took a picture together."

"It's a really nice photo," Olette said. Everyone turned to her, and Olette jumped. "Oh!" she gasped, putting a hand to her mouth.

"Hey! You just said 'photo'!" Pence said excitedly.

"As did you!" Aurora added brightly, earning a few chuckles.

"So, Roxas, tell us about the picture thief," Hayner demanded. Roxas frowned slightly, as though still trying to process what he saw. He shook his head.

"Not much to say. The pictures were just lying there," he said.

"Then how do we prove we weren't the ones who took 'em?" Hayner demanded. Aurora shook her head.

"I'll investigate a little more," she said with a smile, putting a hand on Roxas's shoulder. "And I'll have our names cleared in no time."

"Thanks," Roxas said with a smile.

Aurora nodded and flipped to the next picture, curious.

It was Roxas, with another shopkeeper. Hayner snickered.

"It's a GIRL…" he said.

"You look happy, Roxas," Olette said, laughter in her voice.

"Do not," Roxas countered with a small blush.

"So, like, anybody else notice that all the stolen pictures are of Roxas?" Pence asked.

"Oh!" Olette gasped. "So that's why everyone thought it was us."

"You mean Seifer didn't go around accusing us after all?" Hayner asked, sounding almost disappointed.

"Guess not. But he still deserved that thrashing Roxas gave him earlier," Aurora said with a grin, thinking back. The others smiled too, except Roxas. Instead, he turned to Pence.

"Are they really all of me?" he asked, sounding worried.

"Yep," Pence said, taking the stack from Aurora. He flipped to the next one. "See?"

It was of Roxas and the Candy Shop owner.

"Look," Olette said.

The next one was Seifer standing proudly over Roxas, who was lying on the ground behind him, just after a fight.

"Right? Every single one," Hayner added.

The next was their own picture, of the five of them standing in front of the gates of the Haunted Mansion. Roxas, Hayner, and Aurora stood in the back, Hayner's arms slung over those twos' shoulders, while Pence and Olette were crouched in front of them.

"Hey, wouldn't it be weird if the thief wanted to steal the real Roxas or something?" Aurora asked thoughtfully, a hand to her chin.

A worried look flashed across Roxas's face as everyone turned to look at him. Hayner decided to break the tension.

"C'mon, get serious," he said. "Why would anyone wanna steal a bonehead like Roxas?" he asked.

"Oh, thanks!" Roxas replied sarcastically, before the five burst out laughing. They stopped as the bells went off, turning to look in that direction.

"I'll be home soon, Olette. I'm gonna go clear our names," Aurora said, taking the pictures and heading out. Olette nodded after her, before waving at Roxas. She, Hayner, and Pence left as Roxas was still gathering his things.

 **...**

Aurora Wright used to be an average girl. She had lived with her parents, went to school, came home, and would play video games. The most unique thing that had happened in her life was her older brother, Edym, going missing. Aurora had been very close to Edym. He was like her guardian, fiercely protective, while also her big teddy bear. He would play songs for her on his guitar – songs he wrote and needed to tweak, and songs he did covers of with his band that she loved.

But then he vanished without a trace.

Five years passed. Aurora's cousin, Phoenix Wright, regained his badge and showed her that many, many truths came out in court, so long as one was willing and strong enough to pursue it. He inspired her.

So, Aurora studied. She studied hard, and worked hard, and gained a scholarship into the most prestigious law school around, Themis Legal Academy. While attending, she stayed with Phoenix and interned at his law office, the Wright Anything Agency.

It was the first case she was to help Phoenix with that she met _him._ Riku. He was different. First of all, he wore a long black trench coat with a hood, and a blindfold.

But he was interesting. And fun to talk to. And from the first moment they met, Aurora and Riku's hearts _connected._

It was Riku who taught Aurora about the Heartless and about different worlds. It was also Riku who taught her magic, and gave her the weapon she now used, a magical shield.

But then, Riku left. He had to find a way to wake up his best friend, Sora. And Aurora was okay. She was sad, but she had her memories of him, and the deep belief that they would meet again one day. So, she continued her life, getting top marks at Themis, and interning on different cases.

Until Organization XIII kidnapped her, and she met Roxas and Axel.

They held her for almost a year, having her go with Axel to search Castle Oblivion. They believed her ability would be the key.

Her ability. The ability to sense the balance of light and dark in a person's heart.

After so long as their prisoner, Roxas sprung her from The Castle That Never Was as he left, taking her to Twilight Town.

That was two days ago. Roxas had disappeared, and Aurora made more friends: Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They knew about everything that had happened to her so far, even if everyone else in Twilight Town thought of her as the lost, scared girl with no memory. She was staying with Olette and her parents, with nowhere to go, no way home, and no way to contact Riku or Phoenix.

She was even going to start school there, once the Summer vacation was over in a week.

Aurora was sad, but she accepted it as part of her life now.

She had just spent the day with those three, running around town, clashing with Seifer and 'Twilight Town's Disciplinary Committee' over some imagined 'rule breaking,' and otherwise having fun. The others decided to head home, but Aurora herself decided to go to the 'Haunted' Mansion.

She had found this place last night, and decided it'd be perfect for training with her magic and shield. No one would find her, since everyone seemed to avoid the place, and she could easily get over the gate and inside.

…

Aurora quickly glanced around, making sure no one was lurking nearby, before activating her shield.

" _Water!"_ she called, holding her left hand down, fingers spread, palm facing the ground between her feet. A geyser sprang up under her feet, launching her into the air and over the gate. She closed her eyes with a small groan, her stomach doing a back flip at the height.

As she started to fall, she forced her eyes open. " _Water!"_ she cried again. A bubble of water appeared a few inches from the ground, and she landed it in, breaking her fall. The bubble burst, and she landed on her butt in the grass, laughing.

She stood, shaking water and her wet hair out of her eyes, and jogged over to the door, pushing it open.

The smile on her lips died, however, when she saw a black robed figure going through one of the side doors, not noticing her. Her fight or flight response seized her, only for a moment, before she decided to follow him.

She slowly opened the door he had went through, seeing a library like room beyond. Half of the floor, however, was missing. The cloaked figure went over to the edge of the floor, on the far left of the room, and started going down what looked like a set of stairs. After a few minutes, he completely disappeared, and Aurora was forced to move into the room.

The stairs led down to a door. And beyond that door was a high-tech looking room, dark except for the light-blue glow of a bank of monitors. She crouched carefully in front of the door, watching what was happening.

A red robed figure sat at the computer monitors, his head and face completely swathed in bandages the same color as his clothes. The black cloaked figure walked up behind him.

Just as Black Coat stopped, Red Robe began to talk.

"Organization miscreants… They've found us."

"But… why would the Nobodies steal photographs?" Black Coat asked. Aurora's shoulders relaxed slightly. From the way they were talking, neither had anything to do with the Organization. In fact, it sounded like they were opposing them.

"Both are nothing but data to them," Red Robe said. "The fools could never tell the difference. We are running out of time. Naminé must make haste."

Aurora didn't understand most of it, but it sounded as though the conversation was over. Red Robe leaned forward, tapping on one of the keyboards in front of him, while Black Coat, stepped back, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

Aurora carefully backed away from the door, unsure of their reaction if she were to make her presence known. So, instead, she decided to go back upstairs, and into one of the other room, the one with the smashed table, to practice her fighting.

She didn't know if she'd ever leave Twilight Town at this point, but she decided to make sure she'd be prepared if she ever did.

…

 **A/N:** Tada! Aurora was right in her element with the investigation. And, per Ace Attorney logic of nothing being serious until you add a finger point, she was completely offended by Fuu in this chapter! Hehe, this is fun!


	2. Day Two: Set In Motion

**A/N:** I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Here we go!

Ah! Picture of Aurora from the Kingdom Hearts II era (aka, this story) can be found here! –

: / / maryjpunmaster92 . tumblr post / 157121479504 / my – khaa – oc – aurora – wright – during – the - kh2 – era

Copy and paste into your address bar and get rid of the spaces!

No, ONWARD!

…

Chapter Two: Day Two – Set in Motion

The mysterious figure in the black cloak stood on top of one of the buildings framing the alleyway of Twilight Town, watching as two girls walked towards a gated off area. One had brown, curly hair and was wearing an orange, sleeveless shirt and khaki capris. But this wasn't the one he was interested in.

It was the other one. He had recognized her instantly, when he saw her in the simulated Twilight Town yesterday. He had to come check to see if she was in the real one, and here she was.

She had shoulder length, dirty blond hair. Half of it was pulled back into a spiky ponytail, while a few strands framed her face and fell into her blue-green eyes. She wore a white shirt under a light blue vest, and on the left front of the vest were four pins and a yellow patch, shaped like a kite, with a set of scales embroidered onto it. She also wore a pair of denim shorts that were just a little short of mid-thigh, and between that and the white shirt was about an inch of bare skin. She wore white, knee high socks, a pair of black, ankle high boots, and a yellow scarf tied around her right wrist. On her left was a black wrist band that stretched from halfway up her hand to a few inches below her wrist. Right around the wrist, on the wrist band, were two silver, rounded pieces of metal. Completing the outfit was a pink ribbon tied loosely around her neck, and a black choker with a silver, star-shaped locket.

He let out a soft sigh, and smiled slightly.

"I have someone to thank," he muttered, glancing at his right hand. He clenched it into a fist, before opening his hand again and letting it drop to his side. "And I'm sure you'll be safe here, for now," he finished, before stepping through a dark portal, entering the other Twilight Town to carry out DiZ's orders for the day.

…

Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Aurora were all eating sea-salt ice cream when Roxas arrived at the Usual Spot that morning. Aurora looked up at him and smiled, holding a fifth ice cream bar out to him. Roxas jumped slightly, but smiled and took it.

"Thanks," he said, going over to his usual crate and sitting with it.

Pence suddenly looked down, thoughtful. "Do you guys think we'll always be together like this?" he asked.

"I sure hope so," Olette said. Aurora looked up with a smile.

"It'd be nice," she added.

"Huh?" Hayner suddenly asked. "Where did that come from?"

"Oh, well, you know," Pence said, stalling for time. "Just thinking out loud."

"Well, I doubt we can be together forever," Hayner said. "But isn't that what growing up's all about? What's important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other. Right?"

"Okay, debby-downer," Aurora teased, before looking thoughtful. "But… you do have a point."

Pence, on the other hand, laughed. "Get that off a fortune cookie?" he asked.

"That's it, no more ice cream for you!" Hayner threatened. He sighed, sitting back. "Man, today's turning out to be a drag."

"Maybe because of yesterday's memory thief," Olette offered.

"Nuh-uh. You know what it is?" Hayner countered. "We don't want summer vacation to be over. That's all!"

Pence turned to the girls and shrugged. Aurora nodded in agreement. Hayner finished his ice cream and tossed the stick aside.

"So, how about this?" he said, jumping up from his seat. "We all go to the beach! And why do we go to the beach? Because we haven't gone once this entire vacation! Blue seas! Blue skies! Let's just get on the train and GO!"

"Yes! That would be awesome! I can hear that water calling my name already!" Aurora cheered, jumping up excitedly.

Their words were met with silence though. Both turned to look at their friends.

"No?" Hayner asked as the five moved closer to stand together.

"Aw, c'mon!" Aurora said.

"Maybe you two forgot, but we're broke," Roxas said. Aurora's shoulders dropped.

"Oh. Right," she sighed.

"Maybe you forgot, I'm smart!" Hayner countered. "Come on!" he said, leading the way out of the Usual Spot. In the alleyway, Hayner turned to the other four. "We're going to Market Street!" he announced, leading the way up the hill again.

Once there, they stopped in front of a poster advertising the Struggle Tournament that Fuu had mentioned yesterday.

"Just two days to go," Hayner said, his voice vibrating with excitement. He turned and looked at Aurora and Roxas. "We have to make the finals! That way, no matter who wins, the five of us split the prize!"

"Okay, you're on!" Roxas agreed.

"We got this," Aurora said with a grin.

"You three are gonna clean up!" Pence said with a grin.

"Go get 'em!" Olette added.

Hayner and Roxas crossed their forearms with a grin. "It's a promise!" He then dropped his arm and clasped Aurora on the shoulder. "Right?"

"Right!" Roxas and Aurora said in unison.

"Now, let's get down to business," Hayner said as the five spread into a circle. They began to discuss the prices of a train ticket to the beach, plus 300 Munny each for pretzels. Olette quickly did the math, coming up to 6000 Munny. They already about 2010, leaving them 3990 to raise. Hayner lead the way over to an "Odd Job" board.

"Alright, gang. We have until the train leaves to raise 800 each. Let's get working!" he said. Each of them applied to the different jobs around town: Hayner took on getting rid of bees, Pence took garbage duty, Olette did posters, Roxas did mail delivery, and Aurora took care of grandstanding.

Two hours later, they stood at Station Plaza.

"…5998… 5999… 6000!" Olette said as she finished counting, dropping it into an orange, hand-made pouch. She handed it to Roxas, then pointed to the station. "Let's get tickets!"

Pence, Olette, and Aurora took off running to the station, excited, as Roxas put the pouch in his back pocket, shaking his head. Hayner hung back next to him.

"We can't be together forever…" he mused, "so we better make the time we do have something to remember."

Roxas glanced over at his best friend. "Huh?"

Hayner rubbed his nose for a second, before gently punching Roxas in the stomach. "Gotcha!" he yelled, before running after the others. Roxas rubbed his stomach, looking after him, before starting forward. Suddenly, he tripped over something and hit the ground, face first, pretty hard. The four turned back.

"Ah!" Hayner gasped, stepping back towards the boy.

"Roxas?" Aurora called, hoping he was okay. Roxas began to push himself up with a groan, putting a hand to his chin, which was throbbing slightly from the impact.

The black cloaked figure appeared at his side, grabbing his arm and yanking him up. He pulled him back, a little closer to himself, and Roxas gave a pained expression as it felt like his shoulder was about to pop out of place.

"Do you feel Sora?" he asked. Roxas was taken aback by those words.

"What?" he asked. The figure glanced over his shoulder, to where Roxas's friends were waiting. He looked, specifically, at Aurora.

"Thank you," he said even softer.

"Roxas!" Hayner suddenly called, getting his attention. "Three minutes!"

"Okay!" Roxas called back, before turning back to the figure.

He was gone. Roxas could only guess he had gone back to Market Commons, so he turned back to the station, where his friends were walking away. He looked at Aurora for a moment, wondering what the figure could have been thanking him for. Finally, he shrugged, forgetting about it for now, and jogging to catch up with them.

Hayner leaned into the ticket window, knocking slightly with his fist.

"Five students!" he said brightly, holding up the fingers. Pence turned towards Roxas.

"Roxas, the money," he said.

"Wait—" Roxas gasped, patting first the pockets in his jacket, then his pants. "No!"

The other four turned to face him.

"Huh?" Hayner asked.

Roxas turned quickly to the entrance, thinking back to the Black Coat.

"He took it!"

"Where are you going?" Olette asked, confused.

Roxas turned back them. "Remember when I fell?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. It just happened," Aurora replied.

Roxas looked at her for a moment, before continuing. "I had the money before that. I bet that guy took it!"

"Guy?" Hayner asked.

"He couldn't have gotten to… far…" Roxas trailed off at the disbelief on his friends' faces, confused.

"What are you talking about?" Hayner asked, thinking back. To them, it had seemed as though Roxas had gotten up on his own, with no one else in sight.

"Roxas, there was no guy," Aurora said, tipping her head to the side as she looked at her friend in worry.

"Huh?" Roxas asked, his head snapping up to look at them.

Just then, the bell rang, signaling that the train to the beach was leaving. Roxas ignored it, looking from hand to hand in confusion. "But he… There wasn't? Really?" he asked as the four turned to watch the train leave.

"Oh boy," Pence sighed, slumping forward.

Roxas was still stuck in his thoughts. "There wasn't anyone… there?" he asked once again. Aurora looked back at him and shook her head.

"No…"

The other three turned too, and they all started walking towards him. Aurora clasped his shoulder.

"Hey, it happens. You might have hit your head when you fell, and got confused," she said sympathetically.

"Yeah… maybe," Roxas muttered, unconvinced. He followed them out, guilt and confusion gnawing away at him.

Instead, the group decided on ice cream on the bell tower. Roxas, Olette, Pence, and Hayner sat on the ledge, while Aurora sat with her back leaning against the ledge, not facing the drop, between Olette and Roxas.

Every time she tried to sit with the others, she'd get dizzy at the height. Finally, they decided it was safer for her to not sit on the ledge.

Roxas was quiet, staring down at the drop, his ice cream untouched, while the other four chowed down on theirs'. Olette glanced over at him.

"It's melting," she said as the ice cream dripped. Roxas glanced over at his friends.

"Sorry," he said in a muted tone.

"Cheer up already!" Hayner playfully scolded.

"That was definitely weird, though," Pence mused.

"Strange," Olette agreed.

"You said it," Hayner added.

Roxas looked forward again. The other four turned to face him.

"'Can you feel Sora?'" he muttered. He glanced down at Aurora. "And… 'thank you'?"

 **…**

Aurora carefully moved through the Mansion, heading back to the library. Yesterday, after over hearing the two men, she had decided that she wouldn't come back.

But, despite a fun filled day at the beach with Hayner, Pence, and Olette that left her smelling vaguely like salt, curiosity is a persistent motivator, and here she was, once again.

She reached the basement door in the library, and carefully pushed it open a few inches, peeking in. Red Robe was at the computers again, while Black Coat leaned against the wall, tossing an orange, hand-made pouch into the air.

Aurora put a hand over her mouth, forcing herself not to gasp. She _recognized_ it. It was the very same that Olette had made not too long ago, though this one looked and sounded like it was full of Munny.

"Is it really that hard to make a beach?" Black Coat asked.

"We'd be giving the enemy another entry point," Red Robe answered.

 _(Huh? What are they talking about?)_ Aurora wondered.

Black Coat caught the pouch again, and held it up. "And this?" he asked.

Red Robe turned halfway to see what Black Coat was talking about. Aurora ducked lower, hoping he wouldn't see her through the crack in the door. "We can always buy some sea-salt ice cream," Red Robe said, with a laugh. He then turned back to his computers, and Aurora relaxed.

"Objects from that town must be kept out of the real world," he said seriously. "You can delete that," he said. Black Coat had gone back to tossing it up and down.

The two fell silent. Aurora waited a few minutes more, before backing away from the door and exiting the library, going outside and behind the mansion to the ruined grounds, practicing, this time, with her magic.

 _('That town'? 'The real world'? What's going on here?)_ She thought to herself as she activated her shield.

…

The figure hesitated in his tossing, and glanced over the man in red.

"DiZ," he suddenly said.

"Hm?"

"There's a girl here, one who doesn't belong in Twilight Town. She's even part of your simulation. I… want to take her back to her home," he said.

DiZ turned his head, looking at the man with his one visible, orange eye.

"Impossible. She'll be in more danger there then she would be here, under my watchful eye," he finally said, turning back to his computers.

"But—"

"Her destiny is intertwined too strongly to Sora's. She, too, as a role to play in all of this," DiZ explained, tapping at one of the keyboards.

"That's impossible. She's never even met him," the man said, gripping the pouch tighter.

"No. She didn't have to. But the moment her heart connected with that of someone close to Sora was the moment her fate was sealed," DiZ replied. The man froze, his arms dropping to his sides, the pouch still in his tight grip.

"Oh," was all he managed in a soft voice. DiZ glanced over his shoulder once more, before giving the monitors his full attention.

…

 **A/N:** Another one done! This one was fun, too! Poor Roxas, he's always so picked on…


	3. Day Three: Differences

**A/N:** Okay… so I checked out my homework for the upcoming week… and it's not that bad! So here, have another chapter!

But first, a guest review reply!

Gamergirl: Yes it has! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. I'm also loving writing the Twilight Town days with Aurora included, and I'm glad it's blending well for you! Riku tries, but outside sources are making it really hard. And it's actually through connecting with Riku that Aurora's destiny became connected to not just Sora, but all of them (DiZ is just fixated on Sora right now). Here it is!

This is going to be a short chapter, since almost all of this day happens in Roxas's head, and Aurora's presence doesn't change a thing with that.

Now… ONWARD!

…

Chapter Three: Day Three – Differences

Black Coat watched the alleyway again, from the same rooftop, as the two girls made their way to the Usual Spot, giggling about something. He smiled slightly, watching the blond and the way she pushed her hair out of her eyes.

Deep, deep down, his heart ached. Especially as the light of the setting sun flashed off of the locket around her neck.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, before stepping through a portal.

Stories below, the blond stopped and looked up at the roofs. The other girl stopped as well, turning to her.

"What's up?" she asked, looking in the same direction.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I just… thought I heard something," the blond said with a smile, before walking forward again.

 **…**

"Yes! I can't believe Hayner's uncle gave him Munny for _all of us!_ " Aurora cheered as she, Olette, and Pence made their way to the train station to meet with Hayner.

"Think Roxas will get our note?" Olette asked.

"How can he not? I'm sure he'll noticed we all just up and vanished on him," Pence replied with a grin. As they rounded the turn in Market Street, they saw him on the hill just above them. He seemed to hear their steps and turned.

"Hey!" he called.

"Morning!" Olette called back as the three walked towards him.

Suddenly, Roxas was a little closer, with a confused look on his face. The three continued forward anyway.

"Olette and Aurora dragged me along to go shopping," Pence complained.

"Hey, you wanna come with us?" Olette asked.

"Yeah, we could do with a few things before going to the beach," Aurora added with a smile.

"Um, uhh, wait…" Roxas stammered, staring towards Tram Commons. "Did you just see that…"

The other three looked over, confused for a moment, especially when he took a few steps that way.

"He's stalling," Pence said. Olette put a hand on her hip with a grin.

"Very well, then," she said with a smile. Aurora crossed her arms.

"We'll see you later, Roxas. When we meet at the train station, okay?" she added.

Roxas turned to face them.

"Y-yeah," he muttered as those three took off towards yet another shop.

The three shopped for a bit longer, picking up snacks, beach blankets, and even a picnic basket to put it all in, before meeting Hayner at the train station.

"About time, you guys!" Hayner said with a grin, before looking at them. "Hey, where's Roxas?"

"He bailed on shopping with us," Pence said.

"And he took off towards the Haunted Mansion," Aurora added thoughtfully.

"Huh. Well, we still have a little time. Let's go find him," Hayner said.

"Yeah!" the other three agreed, before running out into the town.

When they reached the Sandlot, Hayner froze. Aurora looked around him, and bit her lip.

Roxas was there, talking to Seifer and their gang. No Struggle Batons were being held, no harsh expressions or angry words.

Just a normal conversation.

Fuu noticed them first, prompting Roxas to look over.

"Hayner, I'm sure it's not what—" Aurora began. Hayner scowled.

"Hmph!" he huffed, before turning away and running back to the Usual Spot. Pence and Olette looked between Roxas and Hayner, before following after the latter. Aurora hesitated a moment more, throwing Roxas a questioning look, before following too.

"Wait up!" she heard Roxas call. Hayner ignored him, instead stopping by the ice cream shop and buying four bars. Aurora frowned slightly at the pettiness of that – he could have at least bought one for Roxas! – but kept her mouth shut.

Once they reached the Usual Spot, Hayner chomped angrily at his ice cream, while the other three simply sat, looking at theirs'.

Roxas walked in, glanced between the four of them. Hayner ignored him, continuing at his ice cream.

"So… you hung out with Seifer's gang today?" Pence asked hesitantly.

"N-no… it's not like that…" Roxas said, his voice almost pleading. He suddenly decided to change the subject. "Oh yeah! How was the beach? Wasn't that today?" he asked.

"We didn't go," Aurora said softly.

"It wouldn't be the same without you, right?" Olette asked. Pence glanced over at Hayner again, who'd been silent this whole time.

"…Sorry…" Roxas muttered, looking down. He then turned to Hayner, having also noticed his quietness. "Hey… how 'bout we go tomorrow?" Aurora winced at the suggestion. "We could get those pretzels and—"

"I promised I'd be somewhere," Hayner cut him off, looking over at Aurora. "Right?"

"Hmm…" she hummed, not wanting to get in the middle of this.

"Ohh…" Roxas sighed, looking down. His head snapped up as he suddenly remembered. "Oh!"

Hayner tossed his empty stick aside, before standing. "I'm outta here," he said, walking past Roxas. He didn't even glance at him once. Roxas looked over his shoulder, watching him walk away, while the other three stood, glancing at each other in worry.

 **…**

"Was that Naminé made of data?" Black Coat asked, standing behind Red Robe. Aurora, once again, was crouched at the door, having opened it a crack to listen. Today had been pretty uneventful – mostly her and Hayner practicing for tomorrow's Struggle Tournament, while Pence and Olette watched. Once again, however, she found herself checking up on these two strange people in the basement of the mansion.

 _(Who's… Naminé?)_

"No," Red Robe replied, anger in his voice. "Naminé hijacked the data herself. Look what she's done now… she's totally beyond my control!" He slammed his fist into one of the Keyboards, causing Aurora to jump.

"Calm down," Black Coat replied, making a pacifying gesture with his hand.

"It doesn't matter," Red Robe finally said, letting his fist drop back into his lap. "As long as Naminé accomplishes her goal… we needn't worry about what befalls Roxas."

A small gasp did escape Aurora this time as she fell back from her crouch, landing on her butt. _(Roxas!? What does he mean by that?)_

Both men turned towards the noise, and Aurora knew she had to disappear. She quickly jumped to her feet and ran, hard and fast, back up the steps.

"Quick! In here!" a voice suddenly said from the top of the steps. Aurora looked up and found a girl in a white dress. Her face as vaguely familiar, but Aurora couldn't place it. "Hurry!" the girl added. Aurora took the steps two at a time and dove through the door the girl held open. The room was blindingly white, but safe for the moment. The girl quickly closed the door behind her, leaving Aurora alone in the room.

"Naminé, have you seen a stranger in the Mansion?" the voice of Black Coat asked from outside.

 _(So this is Naminé?)_ Aurora thought, ducking under the table.

"No. I just left my room to go check on Sora," Naminé said softly.

 _(Sora's here!? I wonder… does Riku know?)_

"Alright. If you do see someone though, please let me know."

"What about that girl who practices magic outback?" Naminé asked. Aurora could hear her tone was careful. There was a moment of silence.

"She's fine. She doesn't know we're here," the voice finally said, before his footsteps receded. A few minutes later, Naminé re-entered the room.

"It's safe," she called. Aurora crept out from under the table.

"Thank you," she said.

"Of course," Naminé said with a kind smile. Aurora fidgeted for a moment. Naminé smiled wider and motioned for her to sit. Aurora did so, looking at the other girl.

"You have questions?" Naminé asked.

"Yes. The first is… who are you?" Aurora asked.

Naminé proceeded to tell her, explaining that she was a special Nobody and a Memory Witch, with powers over Sora's memories and those connected to him. Organization XIII made her rearrange the links in Sora's chain of memories, so now she was fixing them under the watchful eye of DiZ, the man in red. Sora would be awakening soon, but she needed just a few more days.

"And Roxas?" Aurora asked. Naminé hesitated.

"Nobodies… were never meant to exist," she finally said. Aurora frowned.

"That's not true. Roxas might be… special, but I've met my brother's Nobody. There were small changes, but he was the same person. Saying Nobodies aren't meant to exist is like say he's not. Or you, or Roxas," Aurora said passionately. Naminé was taken aback, but gave a sad smile all the same.

"Still. Roxas… needs to return to Sora. But he's not going to disappear. He'll become whole again," Naminé explained. Aurora's shoulders dropped.

"Roxas… said that's all he ever wanted while he was part of the Organization. But he left them for a reason," Aurora pointed out.

"He didn't agree with their tendency to keep secrets," Naminé replied, picking up a crayon and sketching in the book in front of her. "And who can blame him?"

"That's true," Aurora said softly. She hesitated for a moment, pressing her fingers against her locket.

"Naminé. Do you know where Riku is? He was searching for a way to wake Sora up, so I would assume he'd be here, if Sora is too…"

"Riku is—" Naminé suddenly cut off, turning towards the door. "Hide!" she whispered. Aurora dove under the table again, painfully aware that it wasn't the best spot, but a little limited on options. Naminé stood, planting herself in between the door and where Aurora crouched.

The door opened, and Red Robe, DiZ, entered.

"Naminé. Here you are. Come. We must check on Sora, after the stunt you pulled with Roxas," he said.

"Yes, DiZ," Naminé replied, following the man out. She glanced back at Aurora with a small nod, before exiting.

Aurora waited for a few minutes before carefully slipping out of the Mansion. She glanced at the back yard, her training ground, but decided against it.

After all of that, she just didn't have it in her after her discussion with Naminé.

…

 **A/N:** Well, that conversation with Naminé was unplanned and unexpected. But I like it! Next chapter will have two surprises, so stay tuned!


	4. Day Four: Road to War

**A/N:** Finished my homework for the day! This chapter… is going to be a lot of fun to write. Just saying. For the Struggle, I'm using the logic from the KH2 Manga on how the orbs stick to them. Just google "kingdom hearts manga struggle," and it's like the first two under Images. (The manga is awesome, by the way, even if I've only read the KH1, KH:CoM, and the first two volumes of the KH2 ones. I need to get the others…)

Also, I'm taking the chapter titles from what the theater mode in the game calls them.

Well, here we go! ONWARD

…

Chapter Four: Day Four – Road to War

Olette noticed the difference in Aurora last night when she had come home from training. That difference carried on into this morning, too.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Olette asked.

"I'm just… worried about a friend of mine," Aurora admitted. Olette nodded, before linking her arm through Aurora's.

"Well, just try to focus today, okay? I know it might be hard, but with the Struggle Tournament…" Olette trailed off as Aurora's eyes lit up.

"Oh yeah, that! Common, we have to meet the others!" she said, grabbing Olette's wrist and running forward. It wasn't that Aurora forgot about DiZ's words, just that she was trying as hard as she could to immerse herself in the Twilight Town culture.

After all, who knew if she'd ever get out of here.

 **…**

This morning was a mess. The gang had agreed to meet at the Sandlot, which was set up for the Tournament, and Roxas, Hayner, and Aurora had promised to make it to the finals.

But after yesterday…

Aurora had made it to the lot first, even before Olette had woken up. When she and Pence got there, though, Aurora was just standing in a corner, her arms crossed, seeming lost in thought.

She didn't even say hi to them.

Then Hayner got there. He simply nodded to Pence and Olette, but more so focused on training with his Struggle Baton.

Roxas finally showed up, looking around. He spotted Aurora and how lost in thought she was, and thought that was strange. He thought about approaching Hayner, but the fierce look on the boy's face changed his mind. Finally, he decided to stand off to the side, on his own. Olette and Pence wore worried by the three.

Meanwhile, the crowds of Twilight Town gathered around the Sandlot, and even on the roofs of the buildings surrounding it, cheering. The Struggle Tournament was an annual thing that the entire town loved. People even got off of work for this event.

Little did they know of the tension surrounding these five friends.

Trying to break that tension, Pence turned to Olette.

"Who are you going to root for?" he asked.

"All three of them, silly!" Olette answered.

Fireworks burst in the air, representing the start of the Tournament.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Struggle-fiends of Twilight Town!" the announcer began. "It's time for summer's most sizzling clash! That's right! Today is the day for the Struggle and title match!" he announced. The cheers got even louder. "Who will be the one to break through the ranks and take on our champion, Setzer!?"

"Seifer, y'know?" Rai called from where he stood next to the boy in the white coat.

"And who will leave today as out new Struggle Champion!?" the announcer continued.

"Hayner! Roxas! Aurora!" Pence and Olette called in response.

"Setzeerrrrrrr!" most of the girls in the lot suddenly cheered as the silver haired man walked onto the stage, stepping up next to the announcer. Most of the audience took up chanting his name as he waved to the crowd.

"Yes, the crowd is fired up, so you know what comes next: Let's…" the announcer started.

"STRUGGLE!" everyone yelled with a cheered, and more fireworks were set off.

Hayner and Roxas steadily fought their way through, each skilled with their Struggle Batons. But Aurora… she was a demon. Her fights were wild, and each time, her opponents went down quickly, losing all of their orbs within minutes. And each time, she never said a word. She'd simply walk off the field and back to her corner.

Finally, it was time for the finals. A new announcer, this one younger, stepped up.

"Hey, now. It's time to introduce today's combatants!" he said. "The three bad boys, and lady, who struggled their way through the preliminaries!"

He held a hand out towards the first. "Regular finalist and head of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee: Seifer!" Cheers met his words.

He turned, holding his hand out to the next one. "Underground favorite and local attitude problem: Hayner! It's his first trip to the finals!"

Roxas turned, trying to catch Hayner's eye, but the latter turned pointedly away from him, watching the announcer.

Another turn and hand gesture. "Local sweetheart and study bug, Aurora! She's been the epitome of focus today, folks!"

Roxas gave up on Hayner with a sigh and turned to look at Aurora. She wasn't even watching the announcer. Her eyes were on the ground, her arms crossed. It was… odd to see her so closed off.

A last turn and hand gesture. "And Struggler number four, who happens to be my absolute favorite customer: Roxas!"

With a sigh, Roxas looked down at the ground, disappointed.

"So—who will win this sweltering summer Struggle!?" the announcer continued. "Who will take home the grand prize?" He motioned towards the prize table. "The summa cum laude of Struggle—the Five Crystal Trophy!"

On the table sat the dark blue trophy, with five branching, swirling parts. At the end of each part was a crystal: one red, one green, one yellow, one dark blue, and one light blue, almost clear.

"AND!" the announcer continued as Setzer stepped onto the stage once more, "a chance to take on our defending champion, Setzer!" The man in purple pulled the champion belt off of his shoulder and held it up as the girls cheered his name. It was like a wrestling belt, with the plate in the middle showing the Struggle logo. Around it were depictions of the five crystals.

"It won't be long now, folks. We'll get started as soon as the Strugglers are ready!"

As the announcer stepped off stage, the four challengers walked over to him.

"You already know the rules," he said. "So I expect clean fights out there. Any rules broken results in instant disqualification."

The four nodded.

"Good. Let's get this started! Roxas, Hayner, you'll be facing off against each other. Get out there!"

The boys nodded, stepping onto the stage. The cheering grew louder as each boy pulled on a vest and helmet covered in Velcro and began sticking the orbs to them. Once each had covered their vest and helmet in the 100 orbs, the promoter handed each a Struggle Baton.

Hayner stepped back a few paces and brandished his Baton at Roxas. Roxas let out a sigh, looking away for a moment, before looking back at him.

"Hey… Sorry about yesterday," he said.

Hayner let the Baton drop to his side, standing up straight. "What, you still worried about that?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head. "You need to learn to let that stuff go."

"I've got a lot on my mind," Roxas admitted.

"Sorry, man," Hayner said. Roxas shook his head at that. "Wait," Hayner said, suddenly pulling a face, "what am I sorry for?" He grinned at Roxas, who smiled back.

Olette and Pence didn't hear what they said, but the smiles were enough for them to know that all was forgiven and forgotten. They grinned at each other, before glancing over at Aurora.

Aurora didn't smile, however. Her eyes were focused on Roxas with an intensity neither had ever seen on her face.

Both Roxas and Hayner got into their fighting stances as the announcer began. "Our first match of today's Struggle Finals will be between Roxas and his best friend Hayner!"

"Ready?" The announcer called. "STRUGGLE!"

Both boys dived at each other, swinging their Batons. At the last minute, Hayner managed to dodge, coming up behind Roxas and smacking him across the back. Three orbs fell, and Hayner snatched them up, sticking them to his vest. Roxas spun on his heel as Hayner was distracted, however, and managed to hit him in the shoulder. No orbs fell, but Hayner was thrown off balance. Roxas pressed his advantage, striking out two more times, once to the helmet, another to the chest. Orbs dropped, and Roxas grabbed them and stuck them to his vest as he jumped back, avoiding Hayner's counter attack. The boys continued this way, until Roxas got a strong combo on Hayner, making all of his orbs fall off. Roxas rolled out of the way of Hayner's counter, right through a pile of the orbs, getting them to stick to his vest and helmet. As he stood, only one orb still sat on the ground.

If he grabbed it, he would win. Hayner looked from it, to Roxas, then dove forward. Roxas dove at the same time, and, by a stroke of luck, managed to wrap his fingers around it.

"That's the end, folks!" The announcer yelled. He walked onto stage, next to Roxas. "And the winner is Roxas!" he yelled, grabbing Roxas's wrist and holding his hand in the air. Roxas grinned, waving as the announcer let go of his hand. "Not even friendship will slow this kid down. And Hayner put up a great fight, too," he said. Roxas jumped slightly, turning to where Hayner laid on the ground.

"I lost," Hayner said dramatically, lifting his arms and letting them flop to the ground. "Aw, I can't believe it!" Finally, he stood, rubbing his head with a sigh. "I guess I taught you well," he said.

"I had a lot of fun fighting you," Roxas said with a grin. Hayner grinned back for a moment, before pouting, crossing his arms and looking away.

"Yeah, well I didn't, wise guy."

"Hey," Roxas said, clasping his shoulder. "Let's find a way to cheer you up."

"Nah, that's all right," Hayner brushed his hand away, playfully punching the palm of Roxas's other hand. Those two began to walk off stage, only to almost run into Seifer. Aurora stepped onto stage from the other side, holding the Baton loosely in her hand.

"Out of the way," Seifer snarled at Hayner.

"You in a rush to lose?" Hayner taunted, grinning at Aurora. Aurora simply glanced to the side, where Roxas was standing.

"Heh," she smirked. A chill ran down Roxas' spine at that noise. He and Hayner quickly vacated the stage as the two Strugglers got their vests and helmets on and covered in orbs. Seifer frowned, glaring at Aurora, who wasn't even looking at him.

"Don't mess with your betters," he growled. Aurora finally turned to face Seifer with a small frown.

"Whew, just look at those sparks fly!" the announcer said. "It's no secret that these two can't stand each other, but who knew it'd come to this?"

Seifer got into a fighting stance, while Aurora simply stood there, the Baton loose in her hand.

"Ready… STRUGGLE!"

Aurora didn't move. After waiting a moment, Seifer sprang forward. His strokes were fast, but Aurora simply swayed out of the way, dodging each without even showing any effort.

"When did Aurora get so fast?" Hayner gasped as the crowed 'ooh'd in surprise. Roxas simply shook his head, worried about their friend's strange behavior.

Finally, Aurora went on the offense, her strokes twice as fast as Seifer's. It was all the boy could do to block them, until finally, he ducked under one and managed to land a hit on her chest. One orb flew off and across the stage.

"You're mine!" Seifer yelled, rushing forward. Aurora suddenly dashed over, ducking under him, and grabbed the orb. As she came up, she struck twice: once to the head, knocking all of the orbs off of his helmet, then again to the chest, this time with enough strength to not only knock all of the orbs off, but to send Seifer flying across the stage as well.

The boy hit the stage with an 'oof!'. The crowd gasped in surprise as orbs rained down around the girl, who slowly stood up straight and collected the orbs.

"I-I'm not sure what just happened…" the announcer stammered. "Um… but… the winner is Aurora, with a positively blistering counter!" he finished as she picked up the last one and turned her back on Seifer, who was still laying on the ground, stunned from her last attack. Seifer finally sat up, shaking his head.

Once he was okay, he stood fully, stepping off the stage. He and his gang walked past where Hayner and Roxas stood.

"That's not your friend," Seifer said, gaining their attention.

"Huh?" Roxas asked.

"Thrash 'er," Seifer growled, continuing on his way, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi at his heels. Those four left the Sandlot without so much as a glance back.

Roxas watched after him for a moment, before looking across the stage, to where Aurora stood. He was startled to see that she was staring intently at him, a smirk playing across her lips.

Just then, the announcer walked over to Roxas and Hayner.

"It looks like Seifer's withdrawn from the Struggle for third place," he said to Hayner.

"So I'm third now?" Hayner asked. "Aw, baby!"

The announcer smiled, then turned to Roxas.

"Ready?" he asked. Roxas nodded, stepping up. He hadn't bothered to take off the vest or helmet, and neither had Aurora, so they quickly stuck the orbs to themselves, and turned to face each other.

"Keep it clean, you two," the announcer said, handing them their Batons.

Aurora took hers without so much as a nod, and walked over to the starting position. Roxas glanced after her with a worried frown, before taking his own.

"And now, the match you've been waiting for: Roxas versus Aurora! Yet another friendship put through the Struggle!" the announcer yelled, getting the crowd pumped. Roxas got into his fighting stance, but Aurora simply stood there, the Baton loose in her hand, just like before. She stared at Roxas with that creepy smirk on her face. It was beginning to unnerve him.

"Ready? STRUGGLE!"

Roxas was expecting her to stand and dodge, just like she had with Seifer, so he was taken completely off guard when she launched herself forward, her Baton swinging quick and hard at him. His body responded instinctually, dodging and blocking her attacks. The crowd grew wild at the fast paced battle, despite neither Struggler having landed a hit yet.

Finally, Roxas managed to dodge behind her and go on the offensive. She stumbled forward as he hit her with a fast combo, making her loose half her orbs. She turned, however, and lashed out with her Baton, striking him across the head and stunning him with the power from the attack. He grunted, stumbling back from her.

She didn't follow up like he was expecting, though. She simply stood there. He managed to shake away the dizziness and ran forward, ready to strike, when the atmosphere changed, and it grew silent. He held the attack, looking around in confusion.

Everyone was frozen mid-cheer. Everyone, that is, except for Aurora, who was simply watching him with that same, creepy smirk.

Suddenly, a light surrounded her, and when it faded, it was one of those silver things, like the photo thief, in her place. Two more appeared, surrounded him. Roxas gasped, looking around at them.

"Again!?" he exclaimed. Suddenly, the Struggle Baton in his hand changed, becoming the large, key-shaped sword. "Again," he repeated, quieter, and to himself. He gripped the sword, ready to fight.

…

In a flash of light, everything Roxas had just seen vanished. The cheering had started again. He was, once more, holding the Struggle Baton. And Aurora stood in front of him. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she suddenly dropped to her knees, then forward, passed out. The crowd gasped in shock, once again confused as to what happened.

"What? What just happened?" the announcer asked. Roxas lurched forward, kneeling down next to the girl, putting a hand on her back.

"Aurora!?" he asked, worry lacing his voice.

"Huh… Roxas?" she asked, opening her eyes and pushing herself up. She looked confused as she glanced around. "…How did I get here?"

"Er…" Roxas muttered, not knowing what to say. Hayner, Pence, and Olette ran onto stage.

"Roxas! Aurora!" Olette called as Roxas helped Aurora to her feet. The announcer shrugged.

"Well, then, ladies and gentlemen, Roxas! Our new top Struggler!" he yelled. Roxas looked up, and Aurora smiled, hugging him, just as the other three reached them.

"Congrats!" she said.

"Are you okay?" Roxas asked her softly. Aurora let him go, rubbing her head.

"Uh, yeah. Today's a bit of a blur, but I'm fine," she said with a warm smile. Hayner thumped Roxas on the back, while Pence and Olette talked excitedly.

Just then, Setzer stepped onto the stage, announced by his fans. Aurora smiled at Roxas, who still looked worried.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Now, go out there and win," she said.

"A-alright," Roxas agreed, turning to the announcer and defending champion.

Despite Setzer promising to reward Roxas for throwing the match, the blond gave him a sound beating, winning not only the Five Crystal trophy, but also the Championship Belt. After a lot of cheering and grandstanding, the five decided to get away from the crowds to celebrate. Instead, they met on top of the bell tower. Roxas admired the trophy for a few minutes longer, before snapping off each crystal and tossing them down the line: Olette got yellow, Hayner red, Pence green, and Aurora the light blue. Roxas took the dark blue for himself and set the trophy behind him, next to where Aurora sat.

"As promised," he said with a grin, holding his crystal up to the sun, watching it sparkle. The other's followed suit. Even Aurora turned, kneeling on the ground behind the ledge, to hold her crystal up to the sun.

"Thanks a ton, Roxas!" Pence said.

"One more treasure for us to share," Hayner chuckled.

"I've got a present, too… for all of us," Olette suddenly said, reaching into her bag behind her. She grinning, pulling out and holding up five ice cream bars.

"Thanks, Olette!" Aurora cheered.

"Whoa!" Roxas said with a grin, hopping up to his feet on the ledge. His foot suddenly slid off the edge, and he lost his balance.

"Whoa!" he cried again, before falling off the bell tower with a cry of fear.

 **…**

Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Aurora all sat on the top of the bell tower, enjoying their ice cream.

"You're not running off to train today?" Pence asked, looking down at the girl who refused to sit on the edge.

"Nah, I think I did enough, today," Aurora said. Hayner laughed.

"Especially after that match with Seifer?" he asked.

"Hey! I'm not the only one who lost to him today!" Aurora snapped, her cheeks blazing pink. Olette giggled.

"That true. You just did it so… uniquely," she said.

"Yeah. We've seen Hayner loose to him year after year. Yours was actually entertaining!" Pence added.

"Hey!" both Hayner and Aurora cried, offended. Aurora then huffed, chomping at her ice cream as she thought back to that match.

…

 _Aurora had done it! She made it through the prelims and into the finals. The other finalists were Seifer (of course), Hayner, and Rai. Hayner and Rai had just finished their match, with Hayner coming out at the winner. Now, she was to go up against Seifer._

 _The bully stood in front of her, holding his Baton easily. As soon as the announcer yelled "Struggle!" he was on her, his Baton swiping left, right, and center._

 _Aurora was no sword fighter, but she was good at dodging, and dodging was what she did. After she skipped backwards for the fifth time to avoid the Baton, Seifer smirked._

" _Gonna keep running, Chicken Wuss?" he taunted. "Or are you just going to give up?"_

" _I'll never give up," Aurora snarled._

" _Really? Because I'd say you were a coward."_

" _W-what?" Aurora gasped, and for a moment, she forgot where she was. "_ OBJECTION!" _she yelled, automatically pointing at him with her left hand, her right hand, with the Baton, dropping to her side._

 _That was the opening Seifer needed. He was suddenly right in front of her, his Baton moving. She didn't even have time to move backwards, or block, before he knocked off all her orbs and had them attached to his helmet and vest._

" _That's it, folks! And the winner is Seifer!"_

…

"Ugh, I'm so embarrassed," Aurora moaned, hiding her face in her hands. The other three howled with laughter at remembering her 'Objection.'

"What even was that?" Pence asked, looking over at her.

"I was training to be a lawyer back home, remember? And, well, we use that word a lot."

"And the pose?" Hayner added innocently. "That pointing thing?" He imitated it with a grin, though in her opinion, it was grossly exaggerated.

"There's a certain finesse—" she began, remembering the words of her cousin. The other three burst into laughter again. "You know what? Just shut up," Aurora grumbled, pouting.

"Oh cheer up," Olette said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We're just teasing."

"Yeah, I know," Aurora said with a small smile.

…

 **A/N:** And here we are again! This was a fun chapter, hehe.


	5. Day Five: Changes

**A/N:** Here we are! Another chapter! We're coming close to the end of Roxas's time in Twilight Town, before Sora Awakens. But, we have two more chapters until then too, so we still have time!

Review Reply to Gamergirl: Yep! Honestly, I'm glad I got to surprise everyone with that change! It was a lot of fun to write, as was Aurora's real match with Seifer in the real world. I was giggling the entire time leading up to and through that, because I kept picturing it. But hey, what are good friends for if they don't tease you a little? It just shows that they fully accept her into their group. As for Axel, that all did happen, but since it didn't change from the game, I felt it'd be a little… useless. Thanks! Here it is!

Alright, nothing else to say here, except ONWARD!

…

Chapter Five: Day Five – Changes

Aurora was nervous. She knew the end of summer was coming quickly, and it wasn't until today that Olette told her about the homework assignment they had to do over the summer.

It also didn't help that Twilight High sounded completely different from Themis Legal Academy… and that she wouldn't have Hayner, Pence, or Olette in any of her classes. She was constantly forgetting that she was a year older and a year ahead of them.

In fact, and she spit out her drink when she learned this, she was actually in the same year as _Seifer_.

She walked with Olette to the usual spot, carrying her book bag once more. It was heavier than before because she had books from Twilight High in there, alongside her Law textbooks from Themis.

"I'm going to try to get the boys to do the assignment today. Thankfully, you can join our group. It was a school wide thing," Olette was saying.

"That's good," Aurora said with a smile.

…

Black Coat leaned forward on the ledge of the rooftop, watching the girls. He couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Constantly studying. Some things never change," he muttered softly, before standing up straight and disappearing through a dark portal.

 **...**

It was quiet this morning in the Usual Spot. Roxas was perched on his box, lost in thought, while Aurora was curled up on the couch next to Olette, a textbook in her lap, highlighting in it as she read. Olette had a packet of papers sitting in her lap that she was riffling through, while Hayner and Pence talked quietly.

Finally, Olette jumped up, putting the papers aside and planting her hands on her hips, glaring at Hayner.

"That's it!" she snapped. Hayner winced and quickly covered his ears, knowing what was coming. "We need to get started on the Independent Study!"

"No way!" Hayner whined. Olette frowned, then looked over at Roxas. He didn't respond, so she went over, boring her eyes into him and crossing her arms.

Roxas looked up at her, surprised for a moment, before looking at Hayner, wondering what the boy did to upset her.

"Only three days left of summer vacation," he started, quick to defend himself, "so don't even mention that assignment!"

"But we agreed we'd get it finished today," Olette countered.

"And since there's only three days, we need to get on it soon," Aurora added, not once looking up from her book.

"Yesterday," Roxas suddenly said, sounding vaguely freaked out. "I fell off the station tower, didn't I?" he asked. That was enough to get even Aurora to look up from her book.

"You wouldn't be here if you did!" Hayner replied, eager for a subject change.

"But man, that was a close one…" Pence added.

"And you all tease me about being scared of heights," Aurora said, looking at her book again.

Olette uncrossed her arms and stalked over to Hayner, putting her hands on her hips again.

"Stop changing the subject!" she snapped.

"Ugh, okay already!" Hayner said. "You win. We'll do the homework. Stupid independent study."

"Good," Aurora said, finally putting her book away and pulling out a notebook. She and Roxas stood, walking over to the other three to discuss the project.

"So, anybody got any bright ideas for a topic?" Hayner asked. Roxas hesitated for a moment, then looked away.

"Maybe we could study the stuff that's happening to me," he suggested. "You know, the dreams, and the guys in white…"

"Forget it," Hayner immediately said. Roxas looked up, confused.

"Why?"

All four turned to look at him, and Hayner began talking again. "You know, things have been weird with you and the town since the photos were stolen, right?" he asked.

"Well, tomorrow, we're all gonna search the town and find out what's been goin' on," Pence continued.

"Lots of people are helping out," Olette added.

"All that for me?" Roxas asked, shocked.

"Of course, Roxas. You're our friend, and a lot of people in town like you," Aurora said with a warm smile. Roxas looked at her for a moment, before looking away.

"I'll go get some ice cream!" he suddenly said, rushing out. The four friend smiled at each other at that, sitting back in their spots.

Once Roxas got back, Pence told them an interesting story: there have been rumors floating around town—the seven wonders of Twilight Town. The five decided that was a pretty interesting topic, and decided on using that for their Independent Study.

Hayner and Olette went into town to gather more information, while Roxas and Pence went to the train station, heading for Sunset Terrace. Aurora, known for writing good papers, began their thesis statement and outline in her notebook as she followed the two boys back to the residential area.

"The time has come! Our hunt for the seven wonders begins!" Pence said all dramatically. Aurora giggled at that, shaking her head at him. Suddenly, the three heard footsteps behind them, and turned, spotting Hayner and Olette walking towards them.

"Wow, find new rumors already?" Aurora asked, flipping to a blank sheet of paper, her pen poised for notes.

"Nothing on Market Street," Olette said. Aurora's pen drooped.

"Oh."

Hayner, on the other hand, flicked his nose with a smirk.

"You twerps aren't gonna scoop us," he said challengingly. "We're going to the terrace with you."

Olette turned to the boy.

"Hayner, it's not a race!" she scolded.

"Well, it is now," he said with a grin. Roxas laughed.

"C'mon, we can all go," he said, before the gang ran over to the train that would take them.

Each quickly found a seat, with Olette, Aurora, and Hayner sitting across from Roxas and Pence. The boredom with almost like a physical presence in the train with them, until Olette got an idea. With a grin, she reached into her pocket, pulling out her yellow crystal and holding it up to the light that shone through the windows. Aurora smiled, pulling her light blue one out as well and holding it up, inspecting the shimmering surface. Hayner and Pence followed suit.

Roxas, with a grin, reached into one pocket, then another. Confusion quickly overtook his features as he checked a third, then stood and patted his back pockets, still not finding his dark blue crystal. He sat down heavily, before turning to look at his friends, confusion giving way to sadness.

…

The train finally reached Sunset Terrace, where the group joined the other passengers in getting off. Hayner sprang out of the train, running ahead.

"Olette! Hurry!" he yelled, taking off with the girl following. Pence smiled after them, stepping out a little slower with Roxas and Aurora behind him.

"Huh," Roxas muttered as they reached the steps. "Aren't these the steps you talked about?" he asked. Aurora looked over with a smile.

"Yeah, the first wonder! The ones that count different going up and down?" Aurora added, her pen poised over her notebook. Pence turned to them with a sheepish grin.

"Umm… actually, it's the stupidest thing ever, but…" he trailed off.

"What?" Both Roxas and Aurora demanded.

"Rai's the one who counted," Pence admitted. "He's like 'every time I count, it's different, Y'KNOW?'" Pence burst into laughter, joined by Aurora, who was picturing it.

"So, he just counted wrong?" Roxas asked. Pence nodded.

"Most likely."

"We should try it ourselves though," Aurora said, before walking down the steps, counting out loud. She nodded. "Seventeen down!" She came back up, counting once more, before nodding as she reached the top. "And seventeen up. Evidence enough for me."

"See?" Pence said. Roxas slumped forward with a disappointed sigh.

"Hey, no worries," Pence said with a grin as Aurora scribbled down notes. Roxas stood up straight with a nod.

"So, now what?"

"Well, how about you check out the Wonders, while I gather info on them?" Pence said.

"And once you know if a wonder is real or not, you come tell me, and I'll add it to the paper?" Aurora added.

"Sounds good," Roxas said with a smile, before rushing off. Aurora grinned, looking at Pence.

"I'll be up on Sunset Hill. There's a nice bench up there," she said.

"Right," Pence said, following after Roxas.

Pence winded up being the one to come tell Aurora about each wonder. The second one, 'The Friend From Beyond the Wall,' was just as fake as 'The Spooky Steps.' Turns out, although no one knew where the balls were coming from, Roxas was the one playing with one when Pence found him. Aurora wrote that into the paper as it just being some bored kids.

The third, 'The Moans From the Tunnel,' turned out to be Vivi, who took to training in the tunnels, trying to become stronger.

'The Doppelganger' turned out to be people seeing their reflection in a waterfall, and mistaking it for their own Doppelgangers.

While all of this was going on, Aurora herself was watching the fifth wonder, 'The Animated Bag.' The bag slowly moved this way and that, never stopping for more than a few seconds. Finally, Roxas and Pence arrived together, and Roxas set about chasing after the bag. Pence walked over to Aurora.

"There has to be something in there," he said.

"Probably," Aurora replied.

Suddenly, Roxas dove forward, tackling the bag with a grunt. All three heard a yelp of surprise, and Aurora was on her feet, darting over to help Roxas with untying the bag.

A dog sprang out from it, shaking his fur out. Aurora scowled.

"Who would put a dog in a sack like that!?" she demanded. Roxas shook his head.

"I don't know… but that just means this is bogus, too," he said. Aurora sighed, picking up her notebook and quickly making note.

The three began back down the hill, before Roxas stopped, looking over at the two. "You know, that last wonder wasn't exactly wonderful." Aurora nodded in agreement.

"I understand," Pence said. "Say no more. But this next one's gonna be really great! Wonder number Six!"

Just then Hayner and Olette ran up to them.

"We got another lead!" Hayner said excitedly.

"'The Ghost Train Mystery'…" Olette said once they stopped in front of the group.

"Everybody knows about Wonder number Six!" Pence said.

"Yeah, well, I didn't," Hayner said, crossing his arms.

"Did you find out where the train runs?" Roxas asked.

"And what time?" Aurora added.

"You can see it from Sunset Hill," Olette said, and the five began to head that way.

"And if the rumors are true, it'll be here any minute…" Hayner said once they reached a good spot to watch the tracks from.

"For they say the train is empty," Pence said in a spooky voice from behind them. They turned to face him. "No driver, no conductor, no passengers…" his voice dropped into a deeper, darker tone, " _no return._ "

Aurora shivered at that, but turned back to the rail and laid on her stomach on the ground, trying to ignore how high they were over the tracks. The others joined her, and they sat, watching for the Ghost Train.

"We've gotta make it to the beach next year," Olette said, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah. We better get jobs the second vacation starts," Hayner said, turning to face everyone and stretching he legs slightly, resting his feet on Roxas's side. Roxas rolled his eyes at that, but didn't move.

"We could always work _while_ in school. That way, we can save up all year so we'll have enough for watermelon too," Aurora said with a grin, gently elbowing Roxas in the shoulder. He laughed, swatting her away.

"Good afternoon, slackers," a voice suddenly said from behind them, prompting everyone to turn. Aurora and Hayner frowned when spotting who it was. "What are you doing out here?" Seifer asked.

"What do you care?" Aurora snapped.

"I don't," he said, "tell me anyway."

"We're waiting for the ghost train," Pence said spookily.

"Waiting for the ghost train!" Seifer repeated in an ironic voice, before laughing. Roxas jumped to his feet, ready to confront the older boy. Seifer scowled at him as the other four stood as well.

"Why does looking at you always tick me off?" he demanded. Roxas stood up straight.

"I dunno. Maybe it's destiny," Roxas replied in a cheeky tone.

"Destiny?" Seifer asked, shaking his head. "In that case, let's be friends." There was a bit of laughter in his voice as he said this. He turned away from the group, looking out at the sun where it sat on the horizon. "I don't feel like cooperating with destiny."

"When have you ever cooperated with anything?" Hayner demanded. Seifer turned back to the group, before thumping his chest with a smirk.

"Heh," he muttered, turning and leaving.

"Seifer?" Olette called, taking a step forward.

"I know. Tomorrow," he said without looking back.

Suddenly, Roxas looked over at the tracks.

"Look!" he said, throwing himself at the railing. Aurora winced. The wooden railing didn't look that sturdy to her, but it held. They watched their friend, then tried to follow his gaze.

But… nothing was there.

Roxas watched the tracks intently though, his head slowly lowering, as though he was watching something come towards them, then through the tunnel under them.

"It's really true…" Roxas said, excitement in his voice. He quickly turned to them. "And there's really no one aboard!" He turned to Pence, as though catching himself. "What's the catch? There's gotta be a catch, right?"

The four turned, looking at each other in worry and confusion. Roxas misinterpreted their silence.

"Then it's real!?" he gasped. "Let's go to the station!" he said, taking off. The other four couldn't do anything but follow him.

Roxas reached the platform first, where he gasped softly in awe. The only thing the other four could see, however, was the empty tracks. Roxas turned to them with a grin.

"Let's go in!" he said, before turning back to the tracks and walking forward. Hayner looked at the others before lunging forward, grabbing Roxas's arm. Roxas turned to him. "What!?" he demanded.

"Um… you'll get hurt," Hayner said, his eyes flickering to the track, then back. Roxas turned to the tracks, and gasped softly, looking around wildly.

"Huh?"

"The train will be arriving shortly," a smooth, male voice said over the intercom. A few minutes later, the train that would take them back to Market Street glided smoothly in front of them, and stopped. The five glanced over at the door, watching as a few people got off and left the platform. Roxas almost seemed as though he was in shock.

"C'mon," Aurora said, gently laying a hand on Roxas's back.

"A train came from the beach," Roxas said. "There was no driver, right?" he asked, turning. Aurora's hand fell from his back. Hayner shook his head.

"Let's go," Pence said, as though trying to avoid this conversation. Roxas didn't drop it, however.

"Right?" he asked, appealing to Olette, his voice desperate. Olette stayed silent, not knowing how to react.

Hayner scowled and stepped forward, grabbing Roxas by his shoulders and pushing the reluctant boy onto the train. Pence, Olette, and Aurora all looked at each other in worry, before following after them.

As they exited Central Station, Roxas fell slightly behind.

"Let's go home and work on the paper," Hayner said.

"'The rumors were bogus. The end,'" Pence added helpfully.

"Well, we gotta make it sound a bit better than that if we want a good grade," Aurora said.

"Yeah, we can still make it sound good if we write about all the work we did," Olette said.

"But what about the last one—the seventh wonder?" Roxas asked, stopping. The other four stopped too, and Hayner stomped his foot.

"Who cares!?" he demanded, not turning.

"I do. C'mon, Pence," Roxas said. Hayner clenched his fists.

"Whatever!" he snapped. Pence, Olette, and Aurora turned the determined boy.

"Roxas…" Olette said softly.

Pence sighed as Hayner walked away. "It's at that haunted mansion," he said, before he took off after Hayner. Olette went to follow, but Aurora caught her arm.

"Here's my notes from the day. I'll catch up," she said. Olette gave her a questioning look, and Aurora leaned in.

"I don't know what's going on with him, but one of us should stay with him to make sure he doesn't get hurt," Aurora whispered. Olette's eyes widened for a moment, and she nodded.

"Good point," she said softly, before taking off after the others. Aurora turned and smiled at Roxas.

"Well, let's go," she said. Roxas smiled slightly at her and nodded.

"Right.

The two walked through the town silently. Aurora was worried for Roxas, while Roxas was still confused about the train, and bothered by Hayner's responses.

Finally, they reached the front gate of the haunted mansion, both looking up at the imposing lock on the front gate.

"You know something," a voice suddenly said from behind, causing both to jump and turn, "we were gonna check the mansion out tomorrow."

It was Pence. He walked over, standing in between the two of them. "It _is_ the most suspicious place."

"Oh, that's right!" Aurora suddenly gasped, having forgot that part of the plan.

"Right…" Roxas muttered.

"Even Seifer's gang was gonna help," Pence added.

"Ugh…" Aurora muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Seifer!?" Roxas gasped, looking over at those two. Aurora nodded.

"Yeah. Hayner asked him to," she said. Roxas's jaw nearly hit the floor at that one, but he turned his attention back on the mansion.

"So, what are we looking for?" he asked Pence.

"Well, they say there's a girl who appears at the second floor window, even though no one's lived here for years," Pence explained. Roxas and Aurora both gave a nod, before turning and looking up at the mansion. Pence did the same.

After a few minutes, Pence looked at those two.

"See anything?" he asked.

"Nu-uh," Aurora answered, before glancing over at the blond. "Do you, Roxas?" she asked.

Roxas didn't respond. In fact, he was so focused, Aurora wasn't even sure she _heard_ him. "Roxas?" she called.

Pence gave his shoulder a shake. "Roxas! Roxas!" he called with each shake. Roxas suddenly tuned to him, knocking his hand off.

"Huh?" he asked. Pence and Aurora glanced at each other, before looking back at him.

"Did you see her?" Pence asked.

"Yeah," Roxas said with a nod. "Watch the window – closely," he said, pointing to the window that was curtained in white. Both Aurora and Pence focused for a few minutes.

"Oh, lame," Pence suddenly said.

"That's just the curtains moving," Aurora added. "There must be a draft somewhere."

"I'm surprised this old place even has curtains," Pence added with a laugh.

"…Yeah," Roxas muttered, sounding unconvinced.

"Well, let's head back to the Usual Spot," Pence said. "Hayner and Olette are waiting."

Roxas nodded, following the other two away from the mansion.

…

"Hey guys, how'd it go?" Olette asked, greeting them as they entered. She handed Aurora's notebook back to her.

"The girl in the window turned out to be a curtain flapping in the wind," Pence admitted.

"I figured as much," Olette admitted. Aurora shrugged.

"Still good to have evidence though," she said.

"Yeah… but the report's already done."

"Oh."

"All right!" Pence cheered.

"So, wanna go find Hayner?" Olette asked. "He's probably at the station." Aurora moaned slightly at the thought of the bell tower. Roxas felt their eyes on them, and looked up.

"You know… we only have two more days together," Olette said seriously.

"Huh?" Roxas asked.

"Summer vacation, remember?" Olette asked.

"Oh…" Roxas said, relaxing. "Right."

The four left the Usual Spot and quickly made their way to the Station. Aurora let out another moan when she looked up and spotted the small speck that was Hayner.

"C'mon! Better get climbing!" Pence said with a grin.

…

When they reached the top, they found Hayner by himself, eating a bar of ice cream.

They stopped behind him.

"Tomorrow we search the town," Hayner said.

"Next day's the fair," Pence reminded them.

"The last day of summer," Olette added.

"Then we go back to school," Aurora said brightly. Hayner whirled on her.

"Don't say that! You'll give me an ulcer!" he complained.

"Not if you explode from all that ice cream first," Pence said, just as Hayner went to take another bite. He jerked it back slightly, away from his mouth, causing himself, Pence, Olette, and Aurora to laugh, just as the bells went off.

Roxas didn't join in. Instead, he continued to stare at his feet, lost in thought.

…

"Alright, that just leaves one more wonder to investigate," Olette said as she, Hayner, Pence, and Aurora walked around town.

"Oh yeah! 'The Lonely Girl,'" Pence said. "They say, at the Haunted Mansion, a girl appears in the second floor window, although no one's lived there in years."

"I'll do it," Aurora said quickly, her heart pounding at the mention of the Mansion. The others turned to her.

"Do you even know where the mansion is?" Hayner asked. Aurora nodded with a smile.

"Yeah. That's where I go to train," she said. "I know how to get past that giant lock, so I can get a closer look."

That wasn't the real reason. The real reason was fear. _(I still know next to nothing about Black Coat and DiZ. I can't risk any of them running into those two. Who knows what'll happen?)_

"Are you sure?" Pence asked. Aurora smiled.

"Yeah. Here," she handed over her notebook. "Start the report. I took notes on each wonder. I'm sure this one will be bogus, too, but it always helps to have evidence, right?"

 _(In all actuality, I know this one isn't. Naminé is that girl… the Lonely girl. How sad…)_

"Right," the others said. She flashed them a smile and jogged off, her heart pounding.

Aurora hadn't been to the mansion since she was nearly caught. Since she heard that something might happened to Roxas.

This was a good chance to see if she might be able to figure out what DiZ and Black Coat were up to.

She used a water spell to launch herself over the gate, then quickly slipped in. She nearly entered the library, but froze when she heard voices coming from the side room, the one with the destroyed table. She ghosted over to the door, pressing her ear against the keyhole.

"…the trip to the beach." That was DiZ.

"Hmph. That's almost kind of you," the second voice, Black Coat, sounded sarcastic.

"Now… what about you?" DiZ asked. "Are the holes in your memory starting to fill in?"

"Yes… the haze is clearing," Black Coat said.

"The same thing is happening to everyone who had ties to Sora," DiZ said. Aurora froze at the name. "Very soon, to them, he'll be like a good friend who's gone away for a year."

Footsteps moved across the room. There was a bit of shuffling, like someone sitting in a chair.

"I've waited, and now I want to know. What is it that you want?" Black Coat asked.

There was a heavy pause.

"Revenge," DiZ answered. A chill shot up Aurora's back. She couldn't count on one hand how many times that one, simple word was the motive for murder back in her world.

Revenge was a dark emotion that only called out for more darkness. That would explain why Aurora felt nothing but cold, nothing but darkness, when she focused on DiZ.

She didn't dare close her eyes, scared of the image that would be associated with a man like him.

"Revenge…" Black Coat repeated, sounding unsure.

"Now, for the finishing touches," DiZ said. "First, we must dispose of Naminé."

Aurora managed to stifle her gasp this time, pressing her hands tightly over her mouth.

"She did a splendid job with Sora, but it's high time she disappeared. Roxas isn't the only one who was never meant to exist. Take care of it, Ansem."

Black Coat, Ansem, stayed silent, though Aurora heard shuffling, then footsteps. She darted up the steps, knocking on Naminé's door. There was no answer, so she went in, just as the door to the side room opened.

Naminé wasn't there. Aurora quickly looked around, but there was no sign of where the pale blond girl might have got to. She heard more footsteps outside the door, these growing closer. Aurora looked around, trying to find somewhere to hide.

The footsteps stopped right outside the door. Aurora quickly ran over to the window, carefully and silently opening it. She didn't know what Ansem would do to her if he caught her, but she didn't want to find out either. Not if he was actually following DiZ's orders to eliminate Naminé.

Before she could get out the window, the footsteps started again, this time growing softer as they moved further away. Aurora hesitated for a moment, before darting over to the table, where she spotted a box of crayons and paper. She pulled out a light blue crayon and began writing.

' _Naminé,_

 _Don't trust DiZ or Ansem. DiZ ordered Ansem to eliminate you. You must run. If you know where Riku is, ask him for help. I'm sure he'll be more than willing._

 _~A Friend.'_

 _(I wish I could do more. I need to do more! But… how? What can I do?)_

She put a hand on the pink ribbon around her neck.

 _(You'd know what to do. If ever I needed your advice…)_

Nothing came to her. Aurora didn't expect it to, honestly. Not with the distance between her and the original owner of the ribbon. Feeling like a failure, Aurora left from the window, catching herself with a water spell before she hit the ground, and running all the way back to The Usual Spot.

…

"Hey, Aurora. What'd you find?" Olette asked as Aurora entered.

"Hm?"

"The Mansion? 'The Lonely Girl'?" Pence pressed.

"Oh, that. Er, it's just a curtain, flapping in the wind. There's a pretty heavy draft in there," Aurora muttered. "Look, I'm tired. I'm just…" she trailed off, pointing over her shoulder.

"Don't worry, the paper is done. I'm going to take her back, guys. See you all tomorrow!" Olette said, leading Aurora away. All three knew there was something more going on with their friend, but none of them wanted to pry.

…

 **A/N:** Tada! Regular readers know who originally owned that ribbon, hehe.


	6. Day Six: Summer's End

**A/N:** Hey guys! Another chapter, coming your way! This is the last chapter of part one, and the end of the Roxas part. But we're about to get to Aurora _**FINALLY**_ meeting Sora! It only took a whole fic and half of another, but eh. He's been asleep that whole time – the lazy bum. Haha.

Review Reply to Gamergirl: That was actually the hardest chapter I've written so far, so I'm glad you liked it! DiZ can die in a fire. Just saying. I'm glad you enjoyed the pink ribbon scene! I really enjoyed putting that in because it shows how insecure in her own judgement Aurora still is, despite her confident exterior. I'm not sure. WolfieRed23 and I need to discuss it more, haha. You'll see here! And it's okay. Have fun!

Now… ONWARD!

…

Chapter Six: Day Six – Summer's End

Aurora stared at the ceiling above her, laying back in the bed she used at Olette's. She hadn't managed to sleep at all that night, worried about Naminé and Roxas.

She was scared. Scared that she hadn't done enough to warn Naminé, or that she hadn't tried hard enough to find Roxas before it was too late.

When the clock struck seven in the morning, Aurora sat up.

 _(I can't just lay here. I need to find them. I need to help them!)_ she thought, jumping to her feet. She quickly got dressed before grabbing her book bag out of habit, swinging it onto her back. She glanced over at Olette, who was peacefully asleep, before leaving her a note.

' _Went out to train early. I'll meet you and the other's at the Usual Spot!'_

She left it on her pillow, before slipping out of the room, then the house.

Olette's house was in Sunset Terrace, so Aurora had to take the train to Market Street. From there, she quickly made her wat through Tram Common, to the hole in the wall that lead to the woods, and finally, to the Mansion.

The Mansion was even quieter then Aurora was used to. She first checked the side room, finding it empty. Then she checked Naminé's room. That too, was empty. Aurora's heart dropped for a minute, but she relaxed when noticing the sketchbook and box of crayons were missing too.

 _(Hopefully, that's a good sign…)_ she thought, before turning to the Library. _(Last stop, the basement. Hopefully, DiZ isn't around, and there's a clue to Roxas's whereabouts on that computer of his…)_ she thought to herself, slowly pushing open the library door. She crept in, down the steps, and carefully opened the door to the computer room.

It was empty. She pushed the door open all the way and slowly walked in, looking around. Another door lead deeper into the basement, though what was beyond was unknown to her. Instead, she turned her attention to the computer monitors.

Aurora sat carefully in the chair, studying the computers. A picture of a boy with brown, spiky hair, was on one monitor, with a loading bar underneath. " _Restoration at: 98%"_ it read. She shook her head slightly and studied the other monitors. One showed a map of Twilight Town, with a small, blue dot in Sunset Terrace. Red dots flickered, then vanished, in the area marked "Tunnels" and "Market Street." Aurora leaned closer, studying that.

 _(It almost looks like a mini-map from a video game…)_ she thought. _(That looks like the player icon…)_ she pressed her finger against the blue dot, _(while those look like enemy markers…)_ Her eyes flickered to the red dots. "But why is this here?" she muttered. She then shook her head, turning to the center monitor.

 _Password:_

"Oh, great," she muttered, putting a hand to her chin. "What kind of password would he have?"

She suddenly heard footsteps approaching from the door that lead deeper into the basement. Panic froze her for just a moment, before she looked around. She spotted a light shining down from the ceiling in an alcove, something she hadn't noticed before. It kind of looked like a transportation device…

…With no other choice, as the footsteps had reached the door, Aurora dove into the light, covering her head and face with her arms, and hoped for the best.

The light faded. Aurora opened her eyes, and gasped.

She was still in the computer room. She was going to get caught!

 _(I need to get out of here!)_ she thought, jumping to her feet and taking off, back through the door to the library, up the steps, and out of the mansion.

She used a water spell, launching herself over the Mansion gate. As she landed, she rolled, minimizing the impact on her ankles and knees. It was a move she had been practicing for a while, and had finally got down.

However, as she rolled back onto her feet, a chill raced down her spine. She quickly looked around, and gasped.

Lesser Nobodies – Dusks – had appeared around her. She bought her shield up defensively, and glared at them.

 _(For all of my training this past week… I haven't been able to train using Nobodies or Heartless. They just haven't been around. So why now!?)_ she thought to herself. One of the Dusks launched itself at her.

" _Reflect!"_ she yelled, bringing her shield up as the spell bloomed from it. The Dusk slammed into it, then reeled away when the magic barrier shattered. She whirled as another came at her from behind.

" _Water!"_ she yelled, pointing at the attacking Dusk. A geyser shot up from underneath the Dusk, sending it flying. Aurora whirled around again, blocking another attack, before cloaking her shield in another Water spell and throwing it. The shield spun quickly around, slamming into the Dusks and leaving a trail of water floating in the air behind it. Aurora caught the shield as it came to her, and jumped on the trail of magical water. The current pulled her forward, and she swung the shield at every Dusk she passed, bashing them aside. Once at the end of the trail, she jumped off and into the air.

" _Watera!"_ she yelled, pointing down at the Dusks. A large bubble of water appeared, trapping the Dusks. Aurora landed a few feet away from it, feeling a new power surge through her. She smirked, raising her left hand to the sky, palm up, fingers spread.

" _Thunder!"_ she yelled. The sky darkened for just a moment, before a bolt of yellow lightning struck down, slamming into the water bubble. The Dusks trapped inside writhed for a moment, before vanishing into silver Dust. Aurora let out a sigh, letting the Watera spell drop and rubbing her arm, feeling the drain on her magic. Taking a few deep breaths, she allowed her body to relax and her energy reserve to recharge, before moving forward.

Thankfully, she didn't run into anymore Nobodies on the way back. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Roxas and Naminé however, so she didn't notice the eerily silent town as she headed towards the Usual Spot.

Finally, she entered the alleyway, and froze.

"…these icky orders to destroy you if you refuse to come back with me."

Axel. That was _Axel_. He stood in front of the entrance to the Usual Spot.

And across from him… was Roxas. Without the Organization cloak.

Blocking Roxas' two other escape routes were Dusks. Aurora scowled at that.

 _(Destroy? I thought he was your best friend!)_ she thought in disgust towards Axel.

"We're… best friends, right?" Roxas asked, though to Aurora's ears, he sounded unsure. Axel didn't seem to catch it as he turned his head away slightly, mussing his hair.

"Sure… but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for—" he cut off, his eyes widening, his hand dropping. "Wait a sec! You remember now!?" Axel gasped excitedly with a grin.

"Y-yeah," Roxas said.

 _(He's bluffing. Roxas forgot? In that case… this isn't going to end well…)_ Aurora readied her shield, thinking back to what she knew about Axel.

"Great!" Axel said excitedly, while Roxas looked around for a means of escape. "But, you know, gotta make sure and all, so umm… What's our boss's name?" Axel asked.

Roxas didn't answer. Instead, he looked away. Axel looked down with a sigh.

"Ugh, can't believe this," he muttered. Aurora frowned and launched herself forward, using a thunder spell to take out the Dusk in front of her.

"That's enough!" she yelled. Roxas, who had bent down to pick up a stick, jumped slightly.

"Aurora!?" he gasped, looking at the girl who now stood next to him. Aurora glanced over, surprised by the expression he wore.

It was like he was seeing a ghost.

"You!" Axel gasped. Aurora turned back to him, her eyes narrowing.

"I don't know exactly what's been going on, but Roxas left the Organization for a reason. As his best friend, you should understand that," Aurora snarled. At one time, she had considered the man in front of her a friend.

But when she had tasted freedom for the first time in many, many months, he had betrayed her. He had snatched her back from the brink of escape and dropped her through a portal, back into her prison in The Castle That Never Was. Then, although she couldn't remember exactly how, Axel had betrayed Roxas.

Now, here he was again, ready to either destroy or kidnap his _best friend._ All because of Xemnas's orders. Axel frowned at her words. Roxas crouched closer to the ground, getting in his fighting stance. The stick he held changed in a flash of light, becoming a Keyblade.

Axel sighed, summoning his Chakarams and getting into his own stance.

" _BLIZZARD!"_ Aurora yelled, pointing at Axel with her left hand. A chunk of ice flew towards the man.

…

Suddenly, Roxas was gone. The ice slammed into Axel, throwing him back and into the fence. Aurora looked around, confused.

"Roxas!?" she called. Axel picked himself up with a groan.

"You really don't get it, do you?" he demanded. Aurora turned back to him, getting ready again. "This is _his_ creation, used to keep Roxas trapped. If he wants, he can freeze time for anyone."

"'He'?" Aurora asked.

"DiZ. He's gonna use Roxas for his own purpose," Axel growled. Aurora scowled at him.

"Doesn't sound too different from the Organization, then," she sniped. Axel flinched slightly.

"It's different. In the Organization, his Keyblade was needed to finish Kingdom Hearts so that we could become whole again. Here, DiZ is going to make him _disappear_ ," Axel explained. Aurora frowned at that, but remembered what Naminé told her.

"No. Roxas won't disappear. He'll become whole," she said softly, though sadness filled her voice. _(Even if, to me, he already seems to be whole.)_ She took a deep breath, touching the pink ribbon around her neck.

"I was told I could trust you. And honestly, I really _tried_. But you… you betrayed me. I had been so close to freedom that one time…"

Axel's eyes widened.

"No, I wasn't the one who opened that Portal—"

"Save it!" Aurora snapped, entering her fighting stance. "I don't believe you! You've done nothing but betray your 'friends'! Well, not this time, not with Roxas. If you want to go find him, you'll have to go through me!" she yelled.

 _(I know you said I could trust him. I guess, wherever you come from, he's different,)_ she thought, gripping her shield.

Axel closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Fine," he said, getting into his own fighting stance. Aurora rushed forward, cloaking her shield with a Blizzard spell. Axel dodged as she attempted to bash him with it, spinning around her and attacking her from behind. Aurora cried out, before twisting around, blocking another Chakaram strike with her shield. The power behind the stroke caused her to stumble back, right into the fence. She dropped to the ground to dodge a horizontal strike.

" _Blizzard!"_ she cried, pointing at his feet. Ice suddenly bloomed up from the ground, freezing his feet in place.

"Ah!" he cried at the cold. Aurora quickly moved, getting out of her cornered position, and attacking. Axel used his fire to melt the ice, before turning, striking with a quick combo. Aurora, not used to fighting such a fast, experienced adversary, stumbled back, trying to block the attack. Axel suddenly dove towards her, slamming both Chakarams into the shield she held up, using his superior height and strength. Aurora fell back with a cry of surprise, and smacked her head against the pavement. White lights popped in front of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Aurora," she heard Axel say, before hearing his footsteps run off.

"No!" Aurora muttered, pushing herself up. Dizziness rolled over her, and it was all she could do to keep from hurling.

After a few minutes, her head cleared enough for her to cast another spell.

" _Cure,"_ she muttered. Green light swam over her, and the insistent pounding in her head faded. She pushed herself up. _(I gotta find Roxas before he does!)_ she thought, running through the streets of Twilight Town.

As she ran, thoughts swam through her head.

 _(DiZ created this Twilight Town to keep Roxas trapped, but I haven't seen him this whole week, which means I've been in the real one this whole time. Did Ansem kidnap Roxas when we were asleep? He sorta seems like DiZ's muscle, after all. But… why? Why do all of this? DiZ said for revenge, but what has Roxas and Sora ever done to him? None of this makes sense…)_

Aurora skidded to a stop in Tram Commons, looking around, when she spotted a flash of silver from the woods.

"Of course!" she gasped, running that way. _(The Mansion! That's DiZ's home base, after all!)_ she thought as she ran. She knew what she had seen was a Dusk. It only made sense for them to follow after their target: Roxas.

She was surprised to see the gate of the Mansion open, but didn't let that slow her down. She burst in through the door, quickly looking around, before heading towards the library and the basement beyond. She stumbled to a halt in the computer room, a small gasp escaping.

The monitors were all smashed, broken to bits and pieces. Electricity still sparked from them every now and again.

 _(Wh-what happened here?)_ she thought to herself.

Studying them and the surrounding area didn't yield any clues, however, so she decided to continue, going through the open door that lead further into the basement.

What she found, however, was a wall of flame. "Wh-what!?" she gasped, the heat searing her skin. She backed up slightly.

"R-Roxas!?" she yelled. There was no answer. Aurora tried both Water and Blizzard spells, but nothing worked on the flames, meaning they were magical – unnatural.

They were Axel's.

 _(No! I'm too late!)_ she thought in panic, remembering how confused Roxas had been earlier. Since he didn't remember anything, he probably didn't remember how to fight, either. "Damn it!" she cried.

Suddenly, the flames dimmed, then slowly died. In the middle of the ring they had created, stood Roxas, holding two Keyblades, and Axel, who looked weakened.

"R-Roxas?" Aurora asked. Roxas's eyes flickered over to her for a split second. They were sad, but no longer confused. He turned his attention back to the red head, who was breathing heavily, just barely staying on his feet, and stood up straight, de-summoning his Keyblades.

A heavy silence ruled the room for a few minutes, until Roxas finally spoke.

"Axel…" he said softly. His voice was full of emotions: friendship, sorrow… and regret. Axel looked up, smiling at the boy.

"Let's meet again in the next life," he said. Aurora's eyes widened at the implication of that.

"Yeah. I'll be waiting," Roxas said.

Darkness appeared around Axel, and he looked down. "Silly," he chuckled, before looking up again. "Just because you have a next life…" he said as he faded from sight. Roxas looked down at that, guilt marring his features. Aurora hesitated, before slowly walking forward, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Roxas?"

"Aurora. I'm okay," he said softly. "I'm… sorry for leaving you, too," he added. Aurora shook her head. _(I don't know how, but I guess he got his memories back…)_

"It's not your fault," she said with a smile, giving his shoulder a squeeze. Roxas smiled slightly at her.

"I guess. What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked.

"I came to find you. I tried to reach you before Axel did, but…" she trailed off. Roxas shook his head.

"It's alright," he said, before turning towards the door that lead forward. He took a deep breath and started towards it.

"I'm coming with you," Aurora said. Roxas turned back, looking at her, before he smiled slightly with a nod.

"Alright."

The two continued through the door. The corridor they entered was light, with sleeping pods lining the walls. Roxas slowed to a halt next to two of them, studying the occupants.

"…Donald?" he said softly in surprise. Aurora looked up, surprised to see what looked like a humanoid duck in a blue hat and shirt. Roxas's attention switched to the second pod. "Goofy? Aurora looked at that one, studying the humanoid dog in the yellow hat and green shirt with a black vest.

"Who?" Aurora asked. Roxas hesitated before looking over at Aurora.

"Sora's friends. I've… been having dreams about them," he admitted.

"Oh."

Both were quiet for a moment, before turning towards the door at the end of the hall.

The room beyond was even lighter than the hall. At the center was a larger sleeping pod. And in front of that was DiZ. Roxas stalked forward with a frown, Aurora at his side.

"At last, the Keyblade's chosen one," DiZ said. Roxas scowled.

"Who are you talking to?" he demanded, stopping a few feet from the man. "Me? Or Sora?"

"To half of Sora, of course," DiZ replied. Aurora frowned at that.

 _(That's no answer!)_ she thought.

"You reside in darkness. What I need is someone that can move about the realm of light and destroy Organization XIII."

"That's who your revenge is against?" Aurora demanded. Roxas glanced at her, before looking back at DiZ.

"Silence girl. This is not your conversation," DiZ said, without even sparing Aurora a glance. Her teeth ground together at the complete dismissal of that.

"Revenge?" Roxas asked, before looking back at DiZ. "Why? Who are you?"

"I am a servant of the world," DiZ said, before laughing. "And, if I'm a servant, then you should consider yourself a tool, at best."

"Was that…" Roxas began, before growling. "Was that supposed to be a joke?" he demanded, his voice getting louder and harsher with each word. "Cause I'm not laughing!" he yelled, summoning his Keyblade and rushing forward.

"Roxas!" Aurora yelled, reaching out for him, but just missing him by inches. Roxas attempted to slash the man in red with a grunt, but the blade went right through his, a display of digital numbers appearing where the Keyblade struck, before forming back into the image of the man in red. Roxas, who had stopped behind the man, turned, his eyes widening in surprise.

"My apologies," DiZ said, and anger took over Roxas's expression once more. "This is only a data-based projection."

Roxas screamed in furry before whirling around to face the man again, slashing again and again at the man. Digital number and symbols appeared after each slash, only to reform into DiZ. Aurora's eyes widened, and she took a few steps forward, not knowing how to help him.

This Roxas was a lot different from the one who had bought her food each day while she was trapped. Different from the kind, naïve boy who told her stories of his adventures with his friends. Even different from the one who had freed her from the Organization as he defecated, with no idea of where to go. It was like, in the week they had been separated, something in Roxas had… snapped.

And it was the fault of the man in red, DiZ, who simply used Roxas as a tool of revenge. It scared Aurora to see Roxas like this.

"Roxas!" she called, but the boy didn't stop until his rage-induced fuel ran out, and he stood, panting, as the projection of DiZ faded from sight.

DiZ appeared again behind the boy.

"Come, over here," he said. Roxas stood up straight and turned to face him, anger turning his sapphire blue eyes to ice. Aurora moved forward, standing next to Roxas.

"I hate you so much…" Roxas growled, glaring at the man.

"You should share some of that hatred with Sora," DiZ said, unfazed. "He's far too nice for his own good."

"No!" Roxas yelled. "My heart belongs to me!" He put a hand on his chest for a moment, before readying the Keyblade and rushing forward again.

"Roxas, it won't work!" Aurora called after him. DiZ vanished before the Keyblade could connect. Suddenly, the sleeping pod opened slightly, almost like a flower blooming. Roxas looked up at it, shuffling back slightly.

"Sora…" he said. Aurora's head snapped up to look at the brunette in the pod, asleep. It was obvious he'd been there a while. Clothes, that looked like they were supposed to be baggy, were now too tight, and short, on him.

Roxas stood up straight, looking up at the boy, before walking forward slightly. "You're lucky, he told him, before giving a sad smile. "Looks like my summer vacation is… over."

"Roxas?" Aurora asked, stepping forward. Just before she reached him, Roxas began to glow blue. He turned and gave Aurora a sad smile, before closing his eyes, vanishing.

"Roxas!? No!" she cried, running to where he'd been moments before. But no one was there. She dropped to her knees, her eyes welling with tears.

 _(Why!? I thought he wasn't going to disappear!)_ she thought. _(Did Naminé lie to me? Or did she not know?)_

"This is for the better," a voice said from behind. Without having to turn, she knew it was DiZ. "Nobodies were never meant to exist."

"You're wrong," Aurora said quietly, slowly pushing herself up. "If Nobodies weren't meant to exist, then they wouldn't. But Roxas… Naminé… my brother…? They all do." She turned to face the man in red. "They all exist, and they all have hearts!" she yelled.

"Foolish girl. The only way to become a Nobody is to lose your heart in the first place. How could one who's lost their heart have one?" DiZ said.

"I don't know," Aurora admitted. "But I sense the balance of light and dark in people's hearts, and I could sense them, so there must have been something there! And you…" her voice dropped slightly, becoming darker. "You are too twisted to see just how wrong what you just did was. You ordered the elimination of an innocent girl, and talked an innocent boy into giving up his own identity, his own individualism. All for what, revenge?" She shook her head. "What a twisted goal."

"Hmph. I will not be lectured by a teenager who does not know the bigger picture," DiZ said. "You all have your roles to play. Naminé and Roxas have played theirs, and Riku and Sora will too. Even you, Aurora."

Aurora jumped slightly at his knowing her name.

"But, for now, it's time to send you back to where you belong." DiZ held up his hand, and a portal appeared under Aurora. She dropped through, surprised, and landed in the grass of the woods.

"No!" she yelled, frustrated. She pushed herself up, looking around quickly. But the portal was gone.

"Aurora! There you are!" Olette called. Aurora turned to see the girl running over to her. She stopped when seeing the tears on Aurora's face.

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing…" Aurora said, quickly wiping them away. Olette hesitated before nodding, looking down. Aurora noticed that she herself seemed kind of bummed.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Olette said. "It's just… I don't know why. None of us do. But today just seems… very sad. Do you feel it?" Olette asked. Aurora's eyes widened for a moment, before she nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do," she said, before walking back to the Usual Spot with Olette.

 **End of Part One**

…

 **A/N:** And there we go! I'm sorry if I made any of you cry! (not really, but still).


	7. Sora Awakens

**A/N:** I'm back! Remember, Roxas told Aurora who Sora, Donald, and Goofy were last chapter. That's why she already knows their names.

ONWARD!

…

 **Part Two – Awakening**

Chapter Seven: Sora Awakens  


Aurora sat with Hayner, Pence, and Olette in the Usual Spot. She was on the couch again, sitting next to Olette, hugging her book bag.

Roxas disappearing before her eyes kept replaying over and over in her head.

 _(What was I supposed to do? What could I do? That's what DiZ wanted… but it was wrong… right?)_

Hayner, Pence, and Olette were silent, lost in their own sad thoughts. None of those could figure out why they felt so bummed, and they believed Aurora was suffering from the same unknown feelings.

The four looked up when hearing footsteps enter the Usual Spot. Aurora frowned slightly, tightening her arms around her bag.

 _(Sora... Donald... Goofy…)_ she thought, watching as the three of them looked around, confused. She couldn't help but smile slightly at the fact that Sora was running around in clothes that were way too small for him, though.

"What do you want!?" Hayner suddenly demanded. Aurora jumped slightly, looking up at the boy, surprised by his sharp tone.

"Uh, nothing," Sora said, holding his hands up, before rubbing the back of his head. "Just wondering what was back here."

"Now you know. This is our spot," Hayner said. Pence and Olette, on the other hand, stood, with Pence moving closer to Sora, inspecting him.

"Umm…" he muttered as he did so.

Sora turned his attention to the boy in red. "What?" he asked.

"You're…" Pence hesitated.

 _(Wait… did they know Roxas?)_ Aurora thought, standing as well. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hayner do the same, as Olette moved to stand behind Pence.

"…new around here, right? I'm Pence," Pence finished.

"Hayner," Hayner said as he walked over to, and past the boy. "Nice to meet you, but we got stuff to do, so catch ya later," he finished with a dismissal wave over his shoulder as he left. The other three looked after him, before the girls turned back to Sora.

"My name's Olette," Olette said, stepping forward. Aurora offered Sora a smile.

"And I'm Aurora," she said with a little wave.

"Hey, did you finish up the summer homework yet?" Olette suddenly asked Sora. Aurora winced slightly at the mention of it. "Independent studies are the worst, huh?"

"Homework?" Sora asking in an almost comically surprised voice. He turned back to Donald and Goofy. Both shrugged, shaking their heads. Suddenly, Pence realized something.

"Hey, what're your names?" he asked.

"Oh, sorry," Goofy said. "We're Sora," he motioned to the boy, "Donald," he motioned to the duck, "and Goofy," he finished, putting a hand on his own chest.

"Hey there," Sora said. Aurora smiled slightly at the belated greeting.

Meanwhile, Olette and Pence looked at each other, surprised.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, we just met someone who was looking for you," Olette said.

"Really?" Aurora gasped. Olette nodded. "Yeah, while you were still at the Mansion."

"Oh."

"He sure seemed in a hurry," Pence added. "He had a black coat on so I couldn't see his face."

Aurora stiffened. She wanted to stop him there. Black Coat meant the Organization.

 _(Yet… Riku also wore a black coat, to 'protect himself from the darkness,' right? It could be him…)_

"But he had these big round ears," Pence continued before Aurora could make her choice. The three grew thoughtful for a minute, before jumping slightly, all at the same time and looking at each other.

"The King!" Donald said excitedly. Sora and Goofy nodded, before turning back to the three.

"Where'd you see him?" Sora asked.

"At the station," Pence said.

"The station!" Sora repeated. "Thanks!"

"Well, we'd better get back to that assignment," Olette said, before heading out.

"Later!" Pence said, following after her. Aurora hesitated, torn between going with Sora, to make sure it really is this King they were meeting, or following the other two.

Sora didn't seem to notice as he turned to face his two friends.

"Oh boy! The King's trying to find us!" he said excitedly.

"Yeah, let's get to the station!" Sora said. Aurora made her decision, swinging her book bag onto her back.

"Do you mind if I come with?" she asked. The three jumped, looking at her again.

"Uh… I don't know," Goofy said hesitantly.

"Yeah, um…" Sora began, crossing his arms. Aurora smiled slightly.

"If this is about the World Order, it's okay. I already know," she said. Those three jumped in surprise, looking at the unassuming girl in front of them.

"You… know?" Sora asked. Aurora nodded.

"Yeah. I'm not… exactly from Twilight Town," she admitted.

"Well then… I don't see why not," Sora said. Aurora smiled at him.

"Thanks!" she said.

"Well, let's get going!" Sora said, rushing out. Donald and Goofy followed him. Aurora, on the other hand, bit her lip.

"Guys, you're going in the wrong direction!" she called, chasing after them as they entered the Sandlot.

Seifer and his gang were there, as always. They turned towards the commotion, and Seifer stalked forward towards them.

"Hey, where'd you come from?" he demanded.

"Ugh, here we go," Aurora muttered.

"Uhh…" Sora muttered.

"You here to pick a fight with us or something?" Seifer continued.

"Fight? We're not here to fight," Sora said. Aurora stepped forward, putting a hand on Sora's shoulder.

"The only one here who wants to pick a fight is you, Seifer," she said scathingly, before turning to the others. "Come on, let's get going."

"Well, if it isn't the resident weirdo," Seifer said. Aurora, who had turned away, froze, her hand still on Sora's shoulder. "It's no surprise these freaks would show up not too long after you."

"What'd you say?" Sora demanded, clenching his hands into fists. Aurora took a deep breath, turned around again to face the taller boy.

"You might call yourself the head of the 'Disciplinary Committee,' Seifer, but you're just a bully," she said.

"Yeah, well I still beat you in the Struggle. What was that again? 'Objection?'" he laughed, mocking her with an over exaggerated pointing pose. Aurora ground her teeth together, turning scarlet, still embarrassed by that. Sora, Donald, and Goofy frowned at the boy.

"Hey, that's not nice, you big palooka!" Donald snapped.

"Okay, smartalecks…" Seifer said, dropping his arm and standing up straight. "Time to teach you how to behave in my town. Bring it!" Seifer dropped into a fighting stance, Rai and Fuu following his lead.

"Man, what a jerk," Sora said, and he, Donald, Goofy, and Aurora did the same.

"One moment!" a voice suddenly yelled, causing all seven to look over at the pudgy man in green and yellow who was running over to them. Aurora recognized him as the Promoter of The Struggle.

"If you're gonna fight, why not make it a proper Struggle?" the man said.

"What?" Seifer demanded.

"You see, Seifer… I'm a really big fan," the man admitted.

 _(Of freakin' course…)_ Aurora thought sourly.

Seifer, on the other hand, jumped slightly. "Wh-what do you want…?" he asked.

"In other words, I want to see more of your 'super cool' moves!" the man said. "You handled the tournament with real style." Aurora looked away at that. "And you absolutely dominated the title match. But I just can't get enough. Don't you see? The matches are far too short!"

"Just build up his ego, why don't you," Aurora muttered to Sora, who glanced at her with a grin.

"Ah, hello, Aurora," the man said, finally noticing her and Sora.

"Hey," Aurora said with a small smile. The man looked at Sora.

"And what's your name?" he asked.

"Sora."

"Sora, if you wanna fight a match, you just say the word," the man said, before looking at Aurora. "You too—"

"Nope. After the last tournament, I'm all Struggled out," Aurora said, pointedly ignoring the snickers from Seifer and his gang. The man nodded, turning his attention to Sora again.

Sora nodded with a grin, and Aurora smiled.

"Thank you. Come on, guys, we should get to the station. Which is the other way," she said. Sora nodded, letting Aurora lead this time.

Once they entered Station Heights Sora looked over at her.

"So… what happened in that tournament?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him. Aurora sighed.

"Well, I made it to the finals, and had to face Seifer. Since I got here, about a week ago, he and I clash. All. The. Time."

"Yeah, I sensed some tension there," Sora commented with a grin. Donald and Goofy snickered, and Aurora smiled.

"Yeah, well, I can't stand bullies. But anyways, I dodged all of his attacks, and he called me a coward." Aurora blushed at this point, rubbing the back of her neck. "Where I came from, I was going to school to become a lawyer. And, well, as a lawyer, even a student lawyer, I use the word 'Objection' a lot, and… well…"

"He distracted you from the fight and took advantage?" Sora asked sympathetically.

"Yeah," Aurora said with a blush. Sora grinned.

"Don't worry. Back home, me and my friends would spar a lot. I had one who I could almost never beat. When I'd come close, he'd distract me in some way," Sora laughed, thinking back to that.

"You still get distracted easily in a fight," Donald suddenly said.

"Hey! Do not!" Sora replied, looking back at the duck. Aurora laughed at that.

"You three are good friends, huh?" she asked. Sora looked up with a grin, before slinging his arms around Donald and Goofy's shoulders. All three grinned brightly at her.

"Some of the best!" Sora said. Aurora nodded with a smile, before pointing up the hill.

"The station's just up there. Come on!" she said, leading the way.

The finally reached Station Plaza. The three guys looked around, searching for their King, while Aurora kept a wary eye out for anyone in a black cloak.

As they reached the center, a Dusk appeared in front of them.

"No!" Aurora gasped, activating her shield. Three more appeared around them as Donald and Goofy summoned their weapons, surrounding the group. Sora looked around as even more appeared, before looking forward, studying the one in front of him. Confusion flashed across his face, but he shrugged and summoned his Keyblade.

Aurora looked around, her eyes wide. _(I've never faced so many at once before!)_ she thought. _(I know you three just woke up, but I hope you're up to this!)_

The Dusks suddenly lunged forward. Sora blocked their attack with his Keyblade before quickly going on the offense, slashing and hacking at them. Donald used Thunder Magic on them, while Goofy bashed them aside with his shield. Aurora herself cloaked her shield in water magic and threw it forward, making it slam into enemies while she dodged. It returned to her and she caught it, using it to bash into a few Dusks before casting more magic, alternating between Water and Blizzard.

To her horror, the guys began to stumble and slow. It was clear their lack of exercise during their year-long nap had taken its toll on them.

Aurora pushed herself harder, blocking attacks with her shield and Reflect magic that should have hit one of them, trying to take out the Nobodies faster, but she was only one person, and there was a lot of Nobodies.

Suddenly, a new power surged through her.

" _Haste!"_ she yelled, holding her left hand over her chest. She glowed gold, a clock face appearing on her shield. The hands of the clock face began to spin around it, growing faster and faster, until Aurora rushed forward in a blur of gold light, using a combination of magic and speed to take out a lot of the Nobodies.

It didn't help Wave after wave appeared. Just as Aurora's Haste spell wore off, Donald and Goofy collapsed, back to back. Aurora stumbled slightly, having used all of her magic, and fell with her back to Donald's and Goofy's, panting hard. Sora stood for a moment more, before he, too, stumbled back and fell.

The Dusks continued to surround them.

 _(Is this… the end?)_ Aurora thought. Just then, one of the Dusks lunged at Sora.

"No!" Aurora yelled as Sora bought his Keyblade up in an attempt to block it.

Warmth suddenly swept over Aurora, adding to the heat she already felt from Sora, Donald, and Goofy's light hearts. Something small, black and gold dropped from the sky, taking out the remaining Nobodies, including the one that had tried to attack Sora, finally stooping in front of the boy. Aurora gasped slightly at the short figure, dressed in a black coat with large, round ears. It was holding a Keyblade, the colors reversed from the one that Sora held. Sora finally looked up, lowering the Keyblade, and gasped at the figure himself.

Donald and Goofy suddenly jumped on Sora's back, pushing him to the ground.

"Your Majesty?" Donald asked.

"Shh!" the figure said, lowering his Keyblade and putting a finger to his lips. "Sora, Donald, Goofy. You gotta board the train and leave town! The train knows the way," the figure said. He pulled something out of his pocket. "Here!" He held it up for Sora, who had shaken the other two off and stood. Aurora's jaw dropped slightly, recognizing the pouch.

Sora took it, looking at it for a moment. Aurora, meanwhile, stepped forward.

"What about me?" she asked. The figure hesitated.

"You need to stay here. Where it's safe," he said.

"What?" Aurora gasped, pouting and looking down. Suddenly, Donald noticed movement from the corner of his eye.

"Your Majesty!" he called. The other three looked up, watching as the short figure ran, exiting the area. Donald reached after him.

"The King… was that really him?" Sora asked.

"It coulda been… yep, I know it was!" Goofy answered.

"Now we know he's okay!" Donald said happily. Sora crossed his arms thoughtfully.

"The King was locked in the realm of darkness, right?" Sora asked.

 _(He sure didn't seem like it…)_ Aurora thought, remembering the heat from the small figure. That meant his heart was exceedingly light.

"Uh huh," Goofy said.

"But we just saw him…" Sora pointed out.

"Yep!" Donald said.

"And if the King is here, that means Riku's here!" Sora concluded brightly.

"Riku?" Aurora gasped, putting a hand over her locket. "You mean you haven't seen him yet?"

All three turned to her. She blushed slightly.

"You… know Riku?" Sora asked, before lighting up. "Have you seen him?"

"Only… well, the last time I saw him was about a year ago," Aurora admitted. Sora deflated, before shrugging with a grin.

"Well, that confirms it!" he said brightly.

"Right!" Donald said brightly. Aurora gripped the locket, thinking.

 _(Riku… where are you? I thought you'd want to be here for when Sora woke up…)_

"Well, I'm gonna go look for Riku," Sora said. "Then he and I can go back to the islands together. Kairi's there waiting for us!"

Aurora stiffened at that. _(Right. The islands. Their home. Riku's… home.)_ Her shoulders drooped slightly. _(And Riku will probably take me back to my home. After all… he's a stickler for that kind of thing. But the important thing is to find him first.)_

"What are you two gonna do?" Sora asked, looking at his friends. They both gave him a look.

"Gawrsh, Sora. Do ya have to ask?" Goofy asked. Sora started laughing, which got Donald fired up.

"Hey! What's so funny!?" he demanded, jumping up and down.

"Your face!" Sora crowed through laughter, pointing at each of them with each word. They looked at each other, before laughing as well. Aurora smiled slightly, before looking down, her hand still on her locket.

"What do ya say, guys? Let's stick together for one more journey," Sora said. Those two nodded. "To…" Sora hesitated, putting his hands behind his head. "Where again?"

"We gotta board the train. I'm coming with you," Aurora said, stepping forward.

"No way!" Donald suddenly said, jumping up and down again.

"Why not!?" Aurora demanded.

"Well, Aurora, the King said ya gotta stay here. Where it's safe," Goofy said.

"But… Riku's my…" Aurora hesitated as the three of them looked at her. "My friend, too," she finished.

"I'm sorry, Aurora, but the King's probably right," Sora said softly, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry, though. I'll make sure to keep you updated.

Aurora stayed quiet, not answering. Those three glanced at each other, before running to the train station doors, entering.

Just then, Hayner, Pence, and Olette jogged into Station Plaza.

"Aurora?" Olette called. Aurora took a deep breath.

 _(It's in the darkest times that a lawyer wears her biggest smile.)_ she thought, remembering her cousin, Phoenix's, words. She turned to the others with a big smile.

"Hey, guys. Sora and the others met up with the King already. They're getting on a train now," she said.

"Well, let's go see them off!" Pence said. Aurora nodded, following after those three.

"Wait up!" Hayner called once they spotted those three.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy turned.

"Hey, Sora…" Hayner started.

"What?" Sora asked.

"Nothing, but…"

"We came to see you off," Pence said. "It just seemed like something we oughta do."

"Oh… really?" Sora asked. "Thanks!"

Just then, a bell rang, serving as a warning that the train would be leaving soon.

"You should hurry and get your tickets," Olette said.

"Right."

Sora walked over to the ticket booth, pulling out the pouch that the King had given him.

"Huh?" Olette asked, leaning sideways to get a better look. Sora looked over.

"What is it?" Donald asked. Olette reached into her own pocket, producing her's.

"They're the same," Goofy said.

"Yeah. Isn't yours hand-made?" Aurora asked, before suddenly remembering something.

The second time she had spied on DiZ and Ansem, Ansem had that pouch. He'd been playing with it!

"Yeah," Olette replied. Sora looked at the pouch, shrugged, and turned back to the window.

"Three tickets, please!" Sora said. He opened the pouch for Munny, and was surprised to find a dark blue crystal, and a silver, star-shaped locket on top. He decided to look at those later as he paid the person, took the tickets, and took a step towards the platform, before stopping.

Aurora looked over as Sora stopped, wondering if he was okay. She wasn't the only one.

"I can't help feeling like we won't see this town again…" Sora said softly. Aurora looked over at him sharply, not liking the sound of that. Hayner, Pence, and Olette glanced first at her, then each other, then back to Sora.

"Why not?" Donald asked.

"You're thinkin' too much," Goofy said. Sora grinned at that.

"Yeah, you're right!" he said. Those three walked forward, trailed by the Twilight Town group, until they reached the purple train. "Okay, let's go!" he said. The other two nodded, getting on the train, and Sora turned back to the four friends.

"Bye!" he said.

"Hey, Sora. You sure we haven't met before?" Hayner suddenly asked.

Sora grew thoughtful for a moment before answering, "Positive. Why do you ask?"

It was Hayner's turn to look thoughtful, before he shook his head with a grin. "I dunno," he answered.

Sora looked at him in surprise for a moment, before smiling back. Suddenly, without warning, his smile turned into a small frown, and a tear escaped his eye. The four friends gasped slightly.

"Sora?" Aurora asked softly, reaching out towards him, before she suddenly had a thought. _(Those weren't Sora's tears. Those were Roxas's. He must have known the virtual version of these three. Maybe he was even good friends with them. So, saying good-bye to them now…)_ she let the thought trail off.

Sora suddenly seemed to realize. He wiped his face. "Huh?" he asked, looking at the tear on his fingertip, before scrubbing at his eyes with his fist.

"You okay?" Olette asked softly.

"Y-yeah," Sora said. "Don't know where it came from." Sora chuckled at himself, patting his cheeks slightly.

 _(Roxas…)_ Aurora thought, feeling a wave of sadness for her friend.

"Pull it together," Hayner said with a chuckle. Sora smiled sheepishly at those four.

"Right… See ya," Sora said as he turned, stepping to the train with a wave. The four moved closer to the door, and Sora waved again as the door closed. A few moments later, the train pulled away from the platform, exiting the station.

Sadness seemed to overwhelm the group left on the platform as they watched the train speed away.

On the train, Sora leaned against the wall, while Donald and Goofy sat, staring out the window. Sora took the dark blue crystal out of the pouch, handing the pouch to Goofy, before holding the crystal up so that the sun streaming through the windows would make it sparkle.

"You know…" he said softly. Donald and Goofy turned to face their friend, worried about his subdued voice. Sora lowered his hand that was holding the crystal, holding it close to his heart. "I'm sad."

"We'll be back," Donald said.

"Yeah. We can visit Hayner, Aurora, and those guys again," Goofy said. Sora smiled and nodded. Goofy then decided to look in the pouch. He spotted the star locket and pulled it out. "Gawrsh, what's this?" he said, before popping it open.

"Uh… fellas. I don't think Aurora was just Riku's friend," Goofy said, surprise in his voice.

"Huh?" Sora asked, coming closer and looking over Goofy's shoulder. The picture inside the locket was of Riku, who was wearing a blindfold for some reason, and Aurora. Their smiles were huge, and genuine. Riku even had a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Wow! He has the same look you get when you think about Kairi!" Donald said. Sora blushed, before realizing the implication of that. His jaw nearly hit the floor at the thought of Aurora and Riku actually being a thing.

" _WHAAAAAAT!?"_ he gasped.

Just then, a bright light shone through all of the windows. When it was faded, the sunset was gone, replaced by a night sky full of green light, and a floating set of train tracks.

…

Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Aurora walked back to the Usual Spot slowly, each thinking about Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"That was strange though, wasn't it?" Pence asked, earning nods from the rest of the group. "It really felt like we knew Sora… even though we didn't."

"Yeah," Hayner sighed. "Then he goes and gets all mushy on us when he's leaving!"

"Yeah, what was up with that?" Olette asked.

"I don't—" Aurora began, before freezing. It was like an icy wind had swept over her, carrying the bitterness of a blizzard. She realized it blew over her from behind and turned.

" _Reflect!"_ she cried as she activated her shield, bringing it up to protect herself. An extremely powerful blast of darkness slammed into it, shattering the magical barrier and throwing her back.

"Aurora!" the other's called, running towards her.

"Run!" Aurora cried, starting to push herself up. "Get out of here!"

"We can't just leave you," Hayner said, grabbing her upper arm and helping her up. Aurora winced slightly, sore from hitting the ground the way she did, but quickly looked around for the source of the attack.

"You have to," she said as she searched. "Whoever this is, he's dangerous, and—"

"Hello, Aurora. I never would have thought you'd stay here." A chill shot through Aurora as she recognized the voice. All four looked up, seeing a tall man step out of a portal and walk towards them. Aurora also recognized the rapier. This was the man who had been there the first time he'd been kidnapped. The one who did something to her heart, causing her to fall unconscious for two days. The man who, on the very day she and Roxas had become separated, had tried to kidnap her once again.

"Aurora?" Hayner asked. The girl stepped forward, readying her shield.

"I told you once, and I'll tell you again. If you want to take me back, you'll have to kill me," she snarled, sounding a lot more confident then she felt. In the shadows of the man's hood, she saw him smirk slightly. Another chill rolled through her, and she turned her head slightly to look at the others.

"Please, run!" she said, before throwing her left arm out, pointing at the man. " _Water!_ "

The man dodged to the side as a geyser shot up from the ground. Aurora nearly stumbled from the drain on her magic, but Hayner caught her shoulder, keeping her on her feet.

 _(That's right! I used up all my magic on those Dusks. Oh man, I'm totally screwed!)_ she thought as he rushed forward. Hayner let go of her shoulder and planted himself between the man and Aurora.

"No!" Aurora yelled. The man flicked his hand to the side, and Hayner went flying. Pence and Olette ran over to him, deciding it was smarter to listen to Aurora.

The man stomped forward, his sword leading the charge. Aurora managed to dodge his thrust, and caught his horizontal strike on her shield. He had the advantage of strength compared to her though, and she stumbled from the attack, pain pulsing up her left arm. He pressed his advantage, not giving her time to recover. She managed to keep the small shield in between herself and the rapier each time, but she was backing up with each strike, quickly losing ground. Hayner, Pence, and Olette watched in horror as their friend stumbled backwards from each attack.

Suddenly, the man lunged forward, stomping down with his lead foot, his right, and performed a brutal thrust, right for her chest. She raised her shield in time, catching the point once again, but the force of the thrust slammed her back into the wall. Pain raced through her arm, from wrist to shoulder, before it went numb, forcing her arm to drop a few inches. That was all the opening the cloaked figure needed.

Foregoing power for speed, her performed a quick combo on her head and shoulders. Aurora managed to protect her eyes with her right arm, but still gained a flurry of cuts across her arm, cheeks, and shoulder. She tried to bring her shield back up, but he smacked it aside with the rapier.

As quick as lightening, he switched the sword from his right hand to his left, and grabbed her left wrist with his now free right hand, pinning it against the wall with frightening strength. He poised the tip of his rapier against the panting girl's throat.

"Hmph. You're powerless without your magic. Yield, and we'll bring this pointless battle to an end," the man said.

"Never," Aurora spat. His mouth, the only visible part of his face in the shadows of his hood, turned down in a disapproving frown.

"Fine then. I'll—" his next threat was cut short by a Dark Firga blast blind siding him. He was thrown sideways, forced to let go of her wrist.

A small gasp escaped Aurora, and she slid down to sit against the wall, shaking slightly as she rubbed her left wrist. Another cloaked figure appeared next to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Aurora instantly recognized his voice as Ansem's.

"Y-yes," she said, eyeing the sword in his hand. It was dark red and blue, shaped like a demon's wing. Set in the hilt was a demonic blue eye.

"Good. You need to get out of here," he said, bending down and grabbing her upper arm, pulling her to her feet.

 _A path, in the middle of a field. Ahead was the faintest signs of dawn, while above were the brightest stars Aurora had ever seen._

 _She gasped, looking at the cloaked man who was holding her arm. He was frozen, his grip on her arm tight, but not enough to hurt her._

 _Just behind him, she recognized a bush growing next to the path, though she had only seen it once._

 _Suddenly, the scene changed. They were still on a path, but the sun was at high noon. There wasn't a single shadow to be seen, though where the bush had been was now an ugly hole, like the bush had been ripped out by its roots._

Aurora blinked, looking up at the man with wide eyes as they both came back to reality.

"R-Riku?" she breathed. The man turned his hooded head slightly towards her, but not enough for her to see under the hood.

"You," the other man spat, picking himself off the ground, re-summoning his rapier. He began to stalk forward. The man – Ansem – Riku – Aurora didn't know what to think – de-summoned his sword and held up his hand. A portal appeared behind Aurora.

"I'm sorry," he said in such a soft voice, Aurora wasn't sure she heard him correctly. He suddenly pushed her through the portal behind her. Aurora, already weakened by the battle, stumbled, before falling through and landing on her butt on cement. The sunset was gone, replaced by a vaguely pink sky. The buildings, which had been predominantly shades of brown in Twilight Town, now varied between gray, brown and light yellowish-tan. Even the ground she sat on was a different color, closer to blue-gray then the brown brick of Twilight Town.

"No! Riku!" Aurora cried, surging to her feet and slamming into the wall behind the vanishing dark portal, hands first. Realizing she was too late, she slid down the wall to her knees.

 _(I was so close. So close!)_ she thought, her eyes prickling slightly. She closed them and rested her forehead against the gray bricks, their coolness doing nothing to make her feel better.

…

 **A/N:** And here I end. That was the closest Aurora had ever come to defeat…

Also, I just realized, I kind of took Donald's fighting style of magic, and Goofy's fighting style of the shield, and combined them to make Aurora's fighting style.

Also, yes, I did include another spell that was in Final Fantasy, but not Kingdom Hearts. Haste is fun, hehe.


	8. Gathering Shadows

**A/N:** Hey guys. Here's the next chapter! Before I begin though… I just want to thank everyone who reads and reviews! There is no better feeling then waking up to four reviews just hours after I post the next chapter. Thank you everyone!

Also, a lot of people have been asking if Aurora will ever run into a certain character again. I am happy to say that WolfieRed23 and I are discussing/planning it!

Now that the formalities are out of the way… ONWARD!

…

Chapter Eight: Gathering Shadows

Hollow Bastion was slowly coming alive again. Aerith, one of the five founding members of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, looked around with a smile as she walked through the town, a basket of flowers hanging from her arm. She was proud of what her, Cid, Leon, Yuffie, and Merlin had managed in such a short amount of time. True, it wasn't anything close to what it had been at one time, all those years ago, but it was slowly getting there.

Suddenly, she spotted a girl, about sixteen, that instantly held her attention. The girl was kneeling, leaning against one of the gray, stone walls with her arms and forehead. From what Aerith could see, she had shoulder length dirty blond hair, a light blue vest over a white tee-shirt, denim shorts, knee high sock, and ankle high boots. She also had a royal blue bag on her back that looked stuffed, close to bursting. There were a few cuts visible on her right arm. Aerith sped up until she reached the girl, crouching next to her.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. The girl jumped slightly, lifting her head from the wall and turning to face the older girl. Her bright, blue-green eyes were full of emotion, but it was the cuts on her face and shoulders that caught Aerith's attention. "Here, hold still," she said, keeping a hand on her shoulder. " _Curaga."_

Green light spread over the girl. The cuts closed, sealed, and faded. The girl closed her eyes with a sigh, before looking up at her again.

"Thank you," she said. Aerith nodded, standing and helping her up.

"Of course. What happened? Did the Heartless attack you?" she asked. The girl looked startled for a moment, before she shook her head.

"No, not Heartless," she said. "It was… a man. He… he nearly got me this time," the girl's voice became softer with each word, and she looked away. Aerith frowned for a moment, before giving her a comforting smile.

"Well, you got away, and that's the good thing. I guess you're not from Hollow Bastion, huh?" she asked. The girl looked up at her and smiled slightly, before shaking her head.

"No, I'm not. But… I don't really have a way back either. A… friend sent me here." She looked away, crossing her arms. "Probably in an attempt to get me away from the danger…"

"Probably. Well, you're in luck. We have a few open houses. You can stay in one, if you'd like," Aerith offered. The girl hesitated before smiling weakly.

"Alright. Thank you," she said. Aerith nodded and lead the way.

…

Aurora was beginning to feel powerless. It wasn't that she couldn't fight, though she now realized her own training methods weren't good enough. No, it was the fact that she had no way to travel between worlds herself. Because of that, she wound up trapped in whatever world she was sent to.

First, it was The World That Never Was. Then Twilight Town. Now, it was Hollow Bastion. As she trailed Aerith through the town, the girl told her all about the history of this world. How it fell to darkness, taken over by the dark fairy, Maleficent. How it had been saved by the Keyblade Wielder, Sora. How the leader had once been a kind, wise man, but had himself fallen to darkness, Ansem. Aurora's head swam with all of this new information, especially when she began to recognize names.

 _(Wait. If Ansem became dark and did evil things… then why did Riku use his name? Or… was that just someone who had a heart LIKE Riku's, who was using that name? Ugh, I'm so confused…)_

The house Aerith showed Aurora to was small, just one floor, with a small living room, one bedroom, and a small kitchen and bathroom. It was already furnished too.

"Thank you, but I don't have any way to pay," Aurora said. Aerith studied the girl for a moment before smiling.

"You seem capable enough. Perhaps, if you really want to, you could help the Restoration Committee out," she said. Aurora smiled at that with a nod.

"Yeah. I'd like that."

"Alright. Here's the address of our HQ." She pulled a card out of her pocket, handing it over. "Once you get settled, come on over, okay?"

"Alright," Aurora said with a smile, taking it. Aerith smiled back, before heading out. Aurora looked around once more before swinging her bag off her shoulder.

"Well, guess I don't have to worry about school," Aurora said, putting her bag on the couch, before sighing. She reached in, pulling out the books from Twilight High first. She placed those on the small desk that was provided. Next, she pulled out the stuffed dog, brushing a little bit of the dried mud off. With a smile, she placed it on the couch, thinking back to the night she had gotten it.

Riku and her had gone to Gordy Park. It wasn't officially a date, but it might as well have been one. Riku even played all of the rigged carnival games until he won this stuffed dog, then they walked down to the lake. Unfortunately, Heartless had attacked, and she had lost the stuffed animal. She got it back when Organization XIII had kidnapped her. They had it sitting on the bed of the room they kept her in.

There wasn't anything special about it, really. But Aurora continued to carry it around, because it reminded her of the time she spent with the silver-haired boy.

The final thing she pulled out of her bag was her law books from Themis. She placed them on top of the Twilight High books, not having anywhere else to stick them. With a small smile, she traced the pattern of the Attorney's Badge that was printed into the cover of the top one. With all of the time she had as a captive of Organization XIII, she had memorized these books, cover to cover.

 _(It'll be useful. If I ever get back home…)_ she thought to herself, before taking a deep breath and picking up the paper Aerith had given her.

"Guess I'll head on over there…" she muttered, turning to the door and heading out.

…

When she got to the house, she was greeted by Aerith, a young brunette who was wearing mostly leather, and an older man with blond hair. Aerith smiled.

"Leon, Cid, this is Aurora. She's the girl I told you about," she said, standing and coming over, drawing Aurora further into the house. "Aurora, this is Leon," she motioned to the brunette, "and Cid. They're two of the founding members of the Restoration Committee."

Leon simply nodded. Cid smiled.

"Well hey there, sweet heart," he said in a way that managed to be friendly, instead of creepy. "Aerith told us about how she found you."

"So how about you tell us what happened," Leon said. Aurora smiled slightly.

"Guess I should have seen that coming," she said, before sitting. "Well, for how I got off of my world… I was kidnapped by this group. One of their members betrayed them, and helped me escape, but he left me, and I was stranded in another world: Twilight Town," she began. The others glanced at each other, before looking back at her. "One of the members of that group came after me after about a week in that town, and I tried to fight him off, but I had used up all my magic helping Sora and all…"

"You know Sora?" Leon suddenly asked. Aurora looked up at him.

"Um, yeah. And Donald and Goofy. I mean, I don't know them _well_. I only met them once, but… why?" she asked when suddenly noticing the looks the three were giving them.

"All of a sudden, not too long ago, all of us remembered him. _At the same time_ ," Leon said. Aurora's eyes widened as she remembered what DiZ had told Ansem, just yesterday.

"Huh," she muttered.

"Sorry, go on. So you used up all your magic helping those three out. How'd you get here?" Leon asked.

"Oh, um… someone helped me. He distracted the guy, opened a portal, and pushed me through. Then… Aerith found me," she said.

"Hmph…" Leon muttered, before nodding.

"Well, I'm glad you're safe," Aerith said with a smile.

"And willing to help out! We could use as much help as we can get around here," Cid said with a grin. Aurora smiled.

"I can't just stay in that house for free. I'll do what I can," she said.

"Now it's just a matter of finding out what you can do," Leon added. Aurora giggled slightly at that.

"Right."

"Well Leon, Aerith, I need you to check this out," Cid said, turning back to his computer. "You too, Aurora, if you know computer stuff.

Aurora nodded, following the other two as they stood around the blond, who was typing away at the computer. After a few more minutes, the door opened. A girl who was wearing mostly black, with a headband, bounced in.

"Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" she said, before turning and spotting Aurora. "Oh! Who's that?" she asked.

"New member," Leon said as he finally tore his eyes away, turning to see who the girl was talking to.

"We missed you!" Aerith said excitedly, her, Cid, and Aurora having turned as well. Aurora's eyes widened slightly as she spotted who it was.

"Well, if you ain't in top shape," Cid said.

"I knew it," Leon said.

Knew what?" Sora asked as he and the others moved closer. Other than the girl in black, they didn't notice Aurora.

"A while back, everyone suddenly remembered you guys, all at the same time. Then she shows up, saying she knows you," Leon explained.

The three jumped back in surprise. "You… remembered?" Sora asked, looking hurt. "Wait! Does that mean you forgot about us!?" he demanded.

"Who showed up saying she knows us?" Goofy asked, scratching his head. Leon looked over at Aurora, who stepped forward slightly with a small wave.

"Hey guys," she said.

"Aurora!?" the guys all gasped in shock. "What the- how'd the- huh?" Sora stuttered.

"What are you doing here! The King told you to stay in Twilight Town, where it's safe!" Donald exploded.

"Oh, like you've never disobeyed an order from him," Aurora countered.

Goofy and Sora looked at the duck, who crossed his arms and looked away, looking high and mighty. "Never!" he said. Sora and Goofy looked at each other and snickered.

"What about the first time we were here, in this very world?" Sora asked innocently.

"Sora!" Donald yelled, jumping up and down.

"See?" Aurora said with a grin, motioning to Sora. Her face grew grim again. "But, seriously, I was attacked. I think that's evidence enough that it wasn't safe," Aurora said with a frown. Aerith nodded.

"When she arrived, she was covered in cuts," she added.

"The person who saved me sent me here," Aurora explained. Donald huffed, looking away. The black-haired girl finally spoke up again, looking at Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"That's all interesting and all, but where've you guys been all this time?" she demanded, planting her hands on her hips.

"We were sleepin'," Goofy replied.

"Where? In cold storage?" Cid asked. Aurora giggled softly.

 _(Something like that.)_ she thought, remembering those sleeping pods. The three looked away sheepishly.

"It doesn't matter," Aerith said. "This is great. Everyone's together again!"

"So, um… we're trying to find Riku and the King. Have you seen 'em?" Sora asked. Aerith, Cid, and Leon shook their heads. Aurora crossed her arms, opened her mouth, and froze.

 _(I'm still not entirely sure that was Riku. I mean, it felt like him… but according to Aerith, Ansem had given his heart to Darkness too. Oh, I'm so confused!)_

"Right," Sora said, looking down, before Aurora could make up her mind.

"Sorry. But let us know if there's anything we can do to help, okay?" Aerith offered.

"Okay, thanks," Sora said. Cid suddenly stood, staying crouched to Sora's eye-level, as he moved forward. Sora back up in surprise.

"Don't go thankin' us just yet," he said.

"Hollow Bastion's got a problem. A big problem," Leon said. Aurora looked up at him curiously. This was the first she was hearing of it too. Sora leaned around Cid to look at Leon.

"You mean, like Nobodies? And Heartless?" he asked.

"That's right!" the girl in black said.

 _(Is she always so chipper? I thought Trucy was bad…)_ Aurora thought, smiling to herself. Sora turned to the girl.

"Sounds like you could use our help," Sora said with a grin. Aurora stepped forward.

"And mine," she said. "I've fought both before, too."

"Then let's cut to the chase," Leon said as he and Aurora moved closer to Sora. "Sora, Donald, Goofy. We were hoping you three, along with Aurora, might give us a hand around here."

Sora grinned, thumping a hand against his chest. "Like we're gonna say no?" he replied.

"Heh," Leon chuckled. "I forgot who I'm dealing with."

"Hey… what do you mean by that?" Donald demanded, while Aurora giggled, remembering some of Riku's stories about Sora.

"Just think of it as a sort of 'Leon compliment,'" Aerith said. Leon shook his head, walking over to the door and pulling it open.

"Follow me to the bailey—there's something you need to see," he said, before looking at Aurora. "You too." He turned and left.

Before anyone could move, there was a poof of smoke in front of the door, and an old man with a long beard appeared. Aurora smiled slightly, reminded of Trucy and her 'magical entrances.'

"Oh!" he said. "I thought it was you. Right on time!"

"It's Merlin!" Donald said as he, Sora, Goofy, and Aurora moved towards the door.

"Sora, the gang, and our newest member said they're gonna help out!" the black-haired girl said. Merlin glanced at Aurora, and nodded with a smile.

"Splendid! We'll count on you!" he said.

"Right!" the boys, plus Aurora, said.

"Ah, yes. Did you give them the cards, dear?" Merlin asked, looking up at Aerith.

"Oh!" she gasped, before pulling three cards out, handing them to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "Here… they're presents for you. Leon thought you might like to have them."

Sora inspected his for a moment, before reading it. "'Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member!'"

"Membership cards!" Donald said brightly. Aerith smiled, putting a hand on Aurora's shoulder.

"Don't worry. We'll make you one too."

"Okay, thanks," she said with a smile. Sora, on the other hand, turned towards the door.

"Hey, thanks, Leahhh… huh?" he asked.

"Oh right! The Bailey!" Aurora gasped. "Excuse me," she said to Merlin, running out. He chuckled, stepping out of her way.

Glancing around, Aurora had to think about what a bailey was for a moment.

"The… outer wall of a castle. That's right!" she realized, taking off for the tall, long gray wall. Glancing back, she realized the others weren't with her.

 _(Heh. Probably still catching u—WHOA!)_ Aurora slid to a halt and activated her shield as a creature appeared in front of her. She instantly recognized the emblem on it. It was a Heartless, but different from the ones she's faced before.

This one was flying. It dive bombed her, and she rolled out of the way.

" _Water!"_ she yelled. A geyser shot up, striking the Heartless's wing. The Heartless dropped, and Aurora ran forward, towards it.

" _Blizzard!_ " she called, cloaking her shield in ice. She jumped up and rammed the shield into the Heartless, causing it to disappear.

She quickly found steps and ran up them, coming to the top of a large wall. Leon wasn't in sight, but she saw a sheltered area and took off for it, using magic and her shield to make quick work of any Heartless that appeared.

The sheltered area contained two large windows. Leon was at the furthest one, staring out it.

"About time," he said. Aurora smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry. We got distracted by Merlin. I think the boys will be coming soon," she said, going over and looking out.

 _(Whoa… high…)_ she thought to herself, quickly looking away from the window.

Just then, the boys entered, walking over with sheepish smiled. Leon shook his head and turned fully to the window.

"Look at that," he said, pointing to the base of a spooky looking castle. Surrounding it, in a basin like impression in the ground was a writhing, pulsing mass of darkness. Aurora shivered at that, while Sora gasped.

"We want to restore Hollow Bastion to what it used to be," Leon said. "Who knows – maybe even something better. There's still a lot to do, but I'm sure we can handle everything—except for that," he moved his hand to point at something else, drawing the attention of the other four. "And that."

Aurora's acrophobia was forgotten when she looked down and saw two Dusks moving quickly along a path.

Sora stepped back and turned to Leon, putting a fist to his chest. "We'll handle 'em," he said.

"And they'll have my help!" Aurora added.

"Well, that's good to hear," Leon said. "So Sora – do you know what's going on, then?" Leon asked. Aurora turned to him as well, wondering if he could answer any questions she might have.

"There's this guy, Pete, who's been going around plotting with the Heartless," Sora began. "But he's not smart enough to tie his own shoes."

 _(Wow. Harsh.)_

"The ones we need to worry about are the Nobodies," Sora said.

"And those Organization XIII guys in charge, too!" Goofy added.

"You called?" a dark voice said. Aurora shuddered. She didn't recognize the voice, but waves of cold suddenly enveloped her. The group quickly looked around, searching for the source of the voice, before leaving the sheltered area.

"You're doing well," another voice said. Aurora shuddered. This one, she did recognize.

 _(Saïx!)_ she thought in horror, activating her shield.

"Who's that!?" Sora demanded, summoning his Keyblade.

"This calls for a celebration…" a third voice said.

Suddenly, Dusks appeared down one path. Donald and Goofy immediately went after them.

Sora and Aurora went to follow, when two more appeared between them and the entrance to the sheltered area of the Bailey. Leon planted himself between them and the entrance, but he couldn't hold it his own. Sora and Aurora went after them as they slid past Leon, towards the gate that led back into town. Leon himself ran over and pulled the gate shut.

Almost immediately, the Town Defense System activated. Sora and Leon went on the offense, assisted by the Defense System, and attacked the Nobodies. Aurora ran over to the gates, planting herself in between them and the Nobodies. Whenever one went to attack her or the gates, she would cast Reflect, then shove them back.

It was easy enough, at first, when it was just the Dusks. Soon, however, new kinds appeared. Creepers that transformed into swinging spears, and Samurai. Both managed to get a hit in here and there past Aurora's defense, especially the Samurai. Sora began to throw in Blizzard spells with his physical attacks, trying to get rid of them faster, while Leon ran over to help Aurora with protecting the gates.

Finally, they were all defeated. Aurora leaned back against the wall, panting, when the first voice began to speak again.

"The Keyblade… a truly marvelous weapon."

Sora and Aurora glanced at each other, before running out of the sheltered area again, searching for the source once more.

"Were it only in more… capable hands."

Laughter met those words. Aurora's skin crawled when she recognized Edym's fake laughter among it.

"Show yourselves!" Sora yelled.

On the highest part of the castle wall, a portal appeared. From it stepped a man in a black cloak. As his portal faded, he held up his arms. Five more portals appeared, with more black cloaked figures stepping from them.

"O-Organzation XIII," Aurora gasped as Donald and Goofy ran up behind her and Sora. Sora turned and looked at those three.

Aurora, realizing what the look meant, nodded along with Donald and Goofy, determination replacing fear on her face.

"Good. Now we can settle this!" Sora announced, pumping his fist.

"What a shame…" The voice came from the first figure, and it matched the first voice they'd heard. "And here I thought we could be friends."

More laughter met his words as dark portals appeared around all six, causing them to vanish.

" _Hold it!"_ Aurora yelled, pointing at them. It did no good. So, she turned and ran down the path, Sora and the others on her heels. Before they made it too far, another Dark Portal appeared, this time directly in front of Aurora, causing her to skit to a stop.

From it stepped one of the cloaked figures.

Donald looked between where he had just been, back to him, and brandished his stave. "What's the big idea!?" he demanded.

"Oopsy-daisy!" he said. Aurora gasped, dropping into her fighting stance.

"You!"

The figure quickly looked over at her, before dropping one of his hands, subtly blocking his most sensitive area.

"Move!" Sora demanded.

"Now do you think that's polite, shutting me down like that?" the figure asked.

"You haven't been too polite," Aurora snapped. "Now, get outta the way!"

"As if! You can talk all you want, but that won't change a thing."

Aurora jumped back, joining Sora and others as they dropped into their own fighting stances.

"Then we're gonna _make_ you move!" Donald said.

"See, that would work—if I were just any old dude," the man said, seeming to relax now that Aurora wasn't in kicking distance. "'cept I'm not. I'm with the Organization. Nothing 'any old' about me."

"Ha!" Sora said mockingly. "Tough talk for someone who stood on the sidelines while his Nobody flunkeys did the fighting!"

 _(Careful, Sora. He's more powerful then you realize)_ Aurora thought, though she narrowed her eyes challengingly at the man.

"Oh, dear," the man said mockingly. "I think you got the wrong impression."

"You gonna cry?" Sora mocked.

"As if! Why don't I remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?" the man offered. Aurora winced slightly, knowing the man was talking to Roxas at that point.

"Remind me?" Sora asked, all traces of the mocking tone replaced with confusion. It only stayed for a moment before he growled, getting focused once more.

Aurora glanced back at him, and was shocked by the similarity between his and Roxas's angry face. She wasn't the only one.

The man laughed. "That's _right_ , he used to give me that same exact look."

"I guess you think you can psych me out by saying really random stuff!" Sora snapped.

"Gee… I just don't know," he said, before getting into a ready stance himself. Aurora convulsively flexed her left hand, preparing herself for an attack.

Suddenly, the man dropped his arms, almost like all the tension was suddenly drained out of him. Instead, he waved at Sora and Aurora. "Be a good boy now! And I'll be seeing you soon, Aurora," he said, before vanishing through a dark portal.

"Wait!" Donald yelled, rushing forward. He dove towards the portal, but it vanished before he got close, and he landed on his face instead. "Nuts! He got away!" Donald said as he pushed himself up. The others stood straight from their fighting stances.

"That was weird. _Who_ gave him the same look?"

"Y'know, I think he was just tryin' to confuse ya," Goofy said.

"Yeah, you're right. Only one me!" Sora said with a grin. Aurora winced slightly again. Sora reached into his pocket for a moment, before pulling out his card. "The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honarary Member—" Sora began, before cutting off as the card began to glow, dropping it. But… rather then falling, the card began to float higher, the light growing brighter. The tip of Sora's Keyblade began to glow.

"Huh?" he asked, before looking back up at the card.

"What's this?" Leon asked.

"Gawrsh, ya think…" Goofy started. Sora glanced at him, before holding the Keyblade in front of him, pointing it down, experimentally.

The card rose higher into the air, glowing brighter. The light around the Keyblade tip grew, a fierce wind whipping around Sora and pulling at his hair and jacket.

A crown, much like Sora's pendant, suddenly appeared on the ground, made of light, with Sora standing in the middle. The others jumped away from it, not knowing if it was safe to stand one. The light making up the crown suddenly shot up, surrounding Sora, and making him vanish from sight for a moment, while the light swirled around him.

"Wha…?" Aurora gasped, wondering what was happening.

When the light faded, Sora was holding his Keyblade in the air, as though he was pointing it at something.

"Ohh… now I get it," he said, almost to himself as he lowered his Keyblade, studying it. "That must've been the gate Yen Sid talked about," he said, looking at Donald and Goofy. Their confused looks morphed into understanding, and they nodded.

Then a thought struck Sora. He turned and looked over at Aurora. "That guy earlier. Why did it seem like he knew you?" he asked. Aurora de-activated her shield, and crossed her arms with a sigh.

"The people who kidnapped me, and took me from my world… was Organization XIII. I'm not a Nobody, promise!" she added when those three looked at her suspiciously.

"Okay…" Sora said. "Then what did they want with you?"

"I have the ability to sense the balance of light and dark in a person's heart. They wanted me to use that ability to find..." Aurora hesitated for a moment. "…something. That doesn't matter though. I got away, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"We'll do everything we can to help with that!" Sora said with a grin.

"I know. Thanks," Aurora said with a smile. Sora nodded, then turned to Leon with a fresh sense of urgency.

"Sorry to run, Leon, but other worlds are calling," he said. Leon nodded.

"Organization XIII…" He crossed his arms with a worried expression. "They look tough. Be careful out there."

"And don't worry about here. I'll stay and help the Restoration Committee out," Aurora said with a smile, walking over and standing next to Leon. "After an introduction like that…" she glanced at the upper wall, "well. It's not going to be easy."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all nodded with a grin. "See you soon," Sora said. Leon nodded with a wave as the three ran off. Aurora sighed softly, before realizing something.

"Sora! Wait!" she called, running after them. Those three stopped and turned.

"Aurora? What's wrong?" he asked.

"You're going after the Organization, right? There's… there's a favor I have to ask of you."

"Yeah?" Sora asked.

"One member… Number IX, Demyx… he's not like the others. I don't know why he joined them, but… he's _not_ evil," she insisted. Sora, Donald, and Goofy glanced at each other.

"Aurora, I know they kidnapped you, but I doubt you talked to every one of them. How…?" he asked, trailing off. Aurora sighed.

"He's my older brother. He disappeared five—well, I guess six—years ago now. He didn't even know they had kidnapped me until he bought me food one day. Sora, what I'm asking… is that you save him. Please."

"Uh… I'll try," Sora said, rubbing the back of his head, remembering what Yen Sid had told him. Aurora gave him a sad smile.

"I guess that's all I can ask for," she said, before turning and walking back to Merlin's house.

…

Twenty minutes later, on the Gummi Ship, Sora realized something.

"ARGH!" he groaned. "We never asked Aurora about that locket!"

"Sora, focus!"

"Gawrsh, fellas! Look out for that asteroid!"

…

 **A/N:** And the end of this chapter! I couldn't help it with Xigbar's reaction to Aurora. Hehe…


	9. Demyx

**A/N:** Hey guys! Before I start, I just want to say the chapters might be coming out slightly slower (as in not every day), because I started a new class this week.

Now, here we go with another chapter. This one centers around a certain character I'm sure a lot of people have been wondering about… and no, the number placement was not done on purpose. Wow…

Well, nothing more to say here. ONWARD!

…

Chapter Nine: Demyx

"Show yourselves!" the boy with the Keyblade had yelled, the blond girl next to him. The first to appear on the castle wall was the Superior. As his portal faded away, he held up his hands, commanding the remaining five members of the Organization to appear behind him.

Demyx did as was expected. As his portal faded, however, his eyes became riveted to his little sister.

"O-Organization XIII," Aurora, had gasped in surprise. Something inside of him cracked at the fear in her voice, and the way she took half a step back. Demyx gritted his teeth beneath his hood. He knew if he stepped out of line, though, the consequences would be dire.

The Keyblade wielder glanced back at his friends as the duck and dog ran up and nodded. The fear on Aurora's face was replaced by determination, and Demyx felt a little better. Roxas, before he had left, had mentioned that Aurora was strong. He hadn't been too sure, remembering his little sister as a fragile, withdrawn girl… but seeing it now, he realized that Roxas had been right.

"Good. Now we can settle this!" the Keyblade wielder yelled. Fear clawed up Demyx's throat. He knew the power of the Organization. He had been with them for the past six years. They wouldn't…

 _(Aurora would be killed!)_ he thought, almost in a blind panic.

"What a shame… And here I thought we could be friends." The other's laughed at their leader's words, but Demyx knew if he opened his mouth, he'd start yelling at Aurora to run. Suddenly, the other Organization members summoned their portals. Realizing he must have missed some subtle sign from their leader, Demyx did as well.

" _Hold it!"_ Aurora yelled, a strength in her voice that Demyx had never heard before. He glanced back at her as his portal surrounded him. Her eyes were narrowed, anger covering her features.

Then, Hollow Bastion was gone. He was back in the common room of The Castle That Never Was.

"Number IX," the Superior suddenly said from behind. Demyx jumped slightly, and turned to him.

"Sir?" he asked. A quick glance around told him that the other's had went elsewhere. In all honesty, he had meant to appear in his room. The Superior must have hijacked his portal.

"Remember what we discussed just after Number XIII had taken Aurora from the Castle," the man said, before vanishing.

A chill rolled through Demyx, and he lowered his head.

"Right…" he said softly. The Superior nodded dismissively, and Demyx trudged off to his room.

…

About a week later, Demyx was sent on a mission to Olympus Coliseum. He had done missions to this world countless times, but this time, he was to go into the Underworld.

And to have full power there, he needed the Olympus Stone. Stealing that was easy enough, as was entering the Underworld _without_ dying _._

The reconnaissance mission in the Underworld itself was anything but easy.

The Heartless here were more powerful than what Demyx was used to dealing when going solo. A mission like this would normally require two Organization members, but after the disaster at Castle Oblivion, then Roxas and Axel defecting… well, they were a little short-handed.

Demyx sighed as he defeated another group of Heartless, his muscles aching slightly. He de-summoned his Sitar in a burst of bubbles as he stepped through a door, and leaned against the wall.

"Man, I'm beat…" he muttered, closing his eyes and rubbing his left shoulder. A stress knot had formed there, sending a dull ache down his arm. "Just a little longer, then I can…" his voice trailed off as he felt a warm gust of wind suddenly burst over him from the right. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head.

A _HUGE,_ three head dog was crouched next to him, bearing its teeth. Demyx froze except for his eyes widening.

It suddenly growled, a thunderous noise erupting from it, and Demyx broke. He took off, back out the door. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a group of people heading right towards that door.

"Run, run away!" he hollered, before diving through a portal, which took him to a different part of the Underworld.

It was another large chamber, but this time, Demyx was careful to make sure he was alone before relaxing.

 _(I'll just hide out here for a while…)_

A while turned into three hours. Demyx himself had lost track of time, losing himself in his memories of home, six years ago. The dinners he spent with Aurora and his parents, the times he'd take Aurora down to the river and they would play in the water, playing covers of popular songs with the band he formed with his three friends…

 _(What I wouldn't give…)_ Demyx thought sadly.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him.

"Huh?" he muttered, turning. To his surprise, it was the Keyblade wielder and his two friends, the duck and the dog.

"Ah! You!" he gasped, turning fully to face them as he remembered that he had orders that pertained to them. He reached up, pulling his hood down. The Keyblade Wielder's eyes widened slightly at this.

"Wait a sec… Roxas?" Demyx said, hopeful that it would be that easy. The surprise quickly morphed into confusion on the boy's face.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Roxas?" Demyx tried, a little more insistently this time. More confusion met his words, and Demyx sighed. "Oh, it's no use," he said, keeping up the carefree mask that was second nature now.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" the boy asked as Demyx reached into his pocket. They had gotten a second set of instructions which he had written down, because he couldn't remember them for the life of him.

"Let's see, here…" he muttered. "'If the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition'… Right," Demyx said as he rolled his eyes, remembering now. He put the paper back in his pocket. "Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this one…" he muttered.

"You're bizarre," the boy said, crossing his arms. Demyx searched his pocket for a moment, before pulling something else out: the Hero Stone.

"He's gotta be the thief!" the dog suddenly exclaimed, pointing at Demyx.

"Now that's just plain rude!" Demyx replied, before holding the stone up, absorbing some of its power. Light swirled around him for a moment. He put it back in his pocket and summoned his Sitar. The Keyblade Wielder and his friends summoned their own weapons.

Demyx, for his part, didn't want to hurt the boy. Especially since he seemed to be friends with Aurora. So, instead, he decided on another way to 'use aggression.'

"Dance, Water, Dance!" Demyx yelled, playing a complicated riff on his Sitar. Water clones sprang up from the ground and began to attack the trio.

The boy managed to slip past those an attempted to attack Demyx, who blocked the stroke with his Sitar.

"You're Demyx, right?" the boy suddenly asked. "Aurora, your sister, she asked that we try to save you."

Demyx faltered, stumbling back from the boy, unable to believe his ears. Here he was, attacking them, and this boy was talking about saving him? Because _Aurora_ had asked them to?

"Common, Roxas, you know only one thing can save us," Demyx said. _(Kingdom Hearts. That's the only way I can regain my heart, and return home…)_

"I don't…" the boy was confused once more. A water clone attacked him, throwing him away from Demyx.

"Sora!" the dog yelled, before bashing it with his shield. The boy, Sora, nodded his thanks, before turning back to the clones, helping the other two take them out.

"Not bad, Roxas!" Demyx called once the three managed to take all of his clones out. He was still shaken from the prospect of Aurora asking the boy to save him, so, rather than face them himself, he stepped back. "Roxas, come back to us…" he pleaded, some of his desperation leaking into his voice, as he portaled away. _(After all, you're the only one who can work with us to complete Kingdom Hearts…)_

…

"Your mission didn't go as planned?" Number VII, Saïx, asked as Demyx appeared in front of him.

"I have intel on the Underworld. But then I ran into the Keyblade Wielder," Demyx admitted.

"And you failed to bring out his true disposition," the Lunar Divine answered. Demyx didn't answer, simply rubbed his shoulder.

He was pretty sure the stress knot was a little bigger, and a little tighter.

"I'll be in my room," Demyx said, turning away from the man.

"I hope you didn't go easy on him because he's friends with _her._ Don't forget what will happen if you betray us too."

Demyx stiffened, freezing mid-step.

"I know," he said softly.

"I just wanted to be sure," Saïx said. "I'm sure you don't want your baby sister to get hurt."

…

 **A/N:** And I'll just leave it at that, heh. The next chapter will be a long one…


	10. The Program and The Showdown

**A/N:** …

Review Reply to Gamergirl: It's okay! Sorry I made you cry. Err… *looks through this chapter* You're really close. If you've played Dream Drop Distance, think about the whole Xehanort situation in that game. Aurora probably could hold her own against Sora or Riku in a friendly duel, to be honest, especially with the training she's gotten since coming to Hollow Bastion. As for Demyx… well….

*hides* (this isn't exactly proof read either, just be warned…)

…

Chapter Ten: The Program and The Showdown

Since Aurora arrived, she fell into the day to day routine of the Restoration Committee pretty easily. Early morning was dedicated to training with Leon, who had seen her potential, but lack of formal training. He would have her do drills, such as running laps or other physical exercises, then he would spar with her, teaching her more effective ways to block different attacks, and more effective physical attacks. He taught her that her speed was her greatest advantage.

After that was magical training with Merlin. He was impressed with the spells she had learned on her own, and wanted to add to her arsenal, as well as refine just how much of her own magic reservoir she used. She had already known Fire, Blizzard, Reflect, Water and Watera, Thunder, Haste, and Cure. Under his training, she learned Cura, Aero, Thundera, and Reflecta.

After magic training, Aurora would run messages for the Committee. That was her main job, after all. Despite the HBRC getting a few computers up and running, the Telecommunication systems were all still down. Not only that, but half of the Committee spent all of their time at the Castle, while the rest stayed in town.

Having two messengers was the best way to go, so it was both Aurora and Yuffie.

"Hey, Aurora?" a voice suddenly said from behind. She turned and found herself face to face with Tifa. Tifa wasn't part of the Committee, but she knew the others, and tended to help out a lot recently.

"Yeah, what's up?" Aurora asked with a smile.

"You know how I'm looking for Cloud, right?"

"Sure."

"Have you seen him recently?"

"Eh, not really," Aurora said, putting a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Though I personally haven't been looking for him either."

"Ah. Well, I was hoping you could deliver this to him. See if he's in town or something," Tifa said, pulling out an envelope. Aurora took it, studying the paper. It was sealed.

"Alright. You'll tell the others where I went?" Aurora asked. Tifa smiled.

"Of course."

"Cool. I'll be back a little later," she said, before jogging out of the castle. As soon as she was outside, she broke into a run.

The way to town usually wasn't that hard. Recently, however, there have been more Heartless and Dusks. Aurora frowned as she reached an area fraught with Heartless, and reached into her new shoulder bag. She had bought it from Huey, Duey, and Louis once she started carrying messages. Tifa's envelope was tucked safely inside a small pocket. Aurora, however, was quickly taking stock of the amount of Elixars she was carrying. Satisfied with the amount, she activated her shield and dove forward.

A quick sequence of Water and Thunder spells later, they vanished, leaving the way clear. Aurora quickly ran down the steps of the bailey and looked around once she reached the square in front of Merlin's house.

"No sign of him…" she muttered softly to herself, before continuing forward, entering the main square.

"…he look like?" A familiar voice was speaking as Aurora rounded the corner. She grinned.

 _(No… it can't be…)_ she thought, quickening her steps.

"Silver hair. Carries a long sword."

Leaning against the wall, his eyes closed, his arms crossed, was the man she was looking for. In front of Cloud, talking to him, was none other than Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

Aurora frowned at that description. That sounded exactly like the guy who stopped her the other day, demanding to know where Cloud was. Again, like today, she wasn't sure. The man had left her alone, but… she was glad about that.

There had been no warmth coming from that man. She risked closing her eyes for a moment and found her vision to be that of one trapped in an icy cave, isolated from the outside world, and completely dark.

"Sure. Well, be seeing you, Cloud," Sora said, turning away from him.

Cloud opened his eyes. "Be careful," he said, before dropping his arms, stepping forward. "He messes with your head, makes you think darkness is the only way."

"Is something wrong?" Aurora finally asked, stepping forward. All four turned to face her. Well, Sora, Donald, and Goofy did. Cloud turned his back, walking away.

"Cloud, wait! I have a message for you," she said, reaching into her bag. She made the mistake of looking down at it. Once she had the letter in hand and looked up, Cloud was gone. "Oh," she sighed, putting it back in her bag. _(If he's going after that man…)_ "I wonder if he'll be okay," she said softly. Sora stepped up beside her.

"He'll be fine," he said. Aurora smiled at that, thinking back to a certain red clad attorney who works with her cousin.

"You're right. He's Cloud, and he's fine," Aurora said with a grin.

"Hm?" Sora asked.

"Nothing," she said, before turning to him and hugging him. "It's great to see you again," she said.

"Yeah," Sora said with a smile, hugging her back. She left go and stepped back.

"Hey, Sora, don't forget to ask about the—" Goofy started.

"Oh yeah!" Sora gasped, before reaching into his pocket. He pulled the pouch out, and from that, the locket. Aurora gasped, her eyes widening, her hand jumping up to cover the locket attached to her choker. "This has a picture of you and Riku in it," Sora said, opening it and showing her.

"That's Riku's locket," she said softly. "I made it for him, before he left my world. I have the matching one. Why do you…" she trailed off, looking up at Sora with wide eyes. Sora was slightly taken aback by the worry on her face.

"I dunno. It was in the pouch that the king gave us," Sora admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Aurora… how did you and Riku meet, anyway? And what is he, really, to you?"

Aurora sighed. "It was my first day interning at my cousin's law firm. His best friend was accused of murdering his girlfriend by making her turn into smoke." As she talked, she lead the way to Merlin's house. "There were two witnesses. One who got it on video, from a bad angle, the other who saw the heartless and chased after it."

"Riku," Sora said.

"Right. When Nick, my cousin, and I went to speak to him at the hotel the police gave him… I don't know," she put a hand over her heart with a warm smile, "it was like our hearts instantly connected."

She shook her head, her hand moving back to the locket. "The case didn't go anywhere, but I'm pretty sure my ability intrigued him. He stayed on my world for months, and we hung out. A lot. After the Heartless tried attacking me, he told me everything: the other worlds, the heartless, about Destiny Islands…" She looked back at the three silent boys. "And how he was trying to find a way to wake you three up. I'm sure he felt that my ability could help in some way with that, but as time went on, and it became clear it wouldn't, he knew he'd have to leave. And… he did. But not before giving me this shield," she ran her fingers over the now un-activated shield, "and teaching me magic. I haven't seen him since." A pang shot through her heart. _(Well… I might have. Those two times. But I really don't know if that was him on not…)_

"Wow," Sora said softly. "It sounds, and looks, like you two were… really close. Closer then friends, even," he said. Aurora glanced back to see him looking at the picture in the locket. Aurora smiled, blushing.

"Well…" Her cheeks turned a little darker. "I developed feelings for him. I don't know if it was mutual, but…" she trailed off, blushing more.

"Gawrsh, I think it mighta been," Goofy suddenly said.

"Huh?" Aurora asked.

"Well, in this picture, Riku has the same look on his face that Sora gets when he things of Kairi. All blushy and grins," Goofy elaborated. Aurora's blush flared, turning her whole face scarlet.

"Hey!" Sora blushed slightly.

"Y-you really think so?" Aurora asked breathlessly, her face breaking into a grin. The boys all looked at her, before laughing. Her eyes widened, and she covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, shut up!" she cried, before running forward, into the wizard's house. She stopped at the door, however, as she remembered something.

"Hey, guys," she said with a smile, turning back to those three.

"Hm?" Sora asked.

"I meant to tell you earlier," Aurora started with a huge grin. "We found Ansem's computer."

"WHAT!?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy all exclaimed.

"Mhm! With it, we might be able to find info on the Organization, Riku, and the King!" Aurora said brightly. Sora pouted slightly.

"And Kairi," he added.

"Kairi? Did something happen to her?" Aurora asked. She remembered Riku talking about the ginger from the Islands. Apparently, she was Sora's _special someone_.

"The Organization kidnapped her," Sora said. Aurora stiffened, fear shooting through her.

 _(Wh-what? Why? To get to Sora? Will she be okay? I mean… I don't think I would have made it without Roxas, but he's no longer with them. Oh god, please let Kairi be okay.)_ she thought. Sora leaned closer to her.

"Aurora? What—wait! You were kidnapped by the Organization, right? But you escaped! Which means you must know how to get there!" Sora said brightly.

"But… I don't," Aurora said, her shoulders slumping. "I had help escaping, and he used a Portal. None of us can make that, as far as I know," she explained. Sora deflated, looking defeated.

"Oh," he said softly.

"But, we have Ansem's computer, and that might tell us something. Come on, let's get to the castle!" she said, taking off in that direction.

"Right!" the three said, following after her. They didn't make it past the Bailey, though, before running into something a little unexpected.

"Excuse me, are you with the Restoration Committee?" a soft voice asked. All four turned, looking around the empty area, until three girls suddenly flew into their line of vision. The one in front smiled at them as she floated there, as did the blond one to her left with a little wave. The one to her right, who wore mostly black, simply looked at them, crossing her arms.

"We are," Aurora said uncertainly.

"What's Leon's gang up to?" the one in front asked.

 _(Huh. Usually "are you with the Restoration Committee" is followed up with "can you help me with this" or "can you pass on this message" or "can I join?" Never what they're up to. Suspicious…)_

Aurora went to answer, but Sora beat her to the punch.

"They've got stuff to do over by the castle postern," he said.

The one in front bounced slightly and turned to her friends.

"Scoop!" the blond cheered.

"Huh?" Sora asked.

"Let's report," the dark one said.

"To who?" Aurora asked, trying to keep her voice curious. The one in front turned and looked over her shoulder.

"Out leader, of course!" she said.

"Yeah, you know," the blond started, "Malefi—" The one in black shot over, covering the blond's mouth. Sora and the gang finally grew suspicious as they watched them. Aurora crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Don't mind her," the one in black said. "I assure you, we come in peace." The blond gave up on trying to remove the other's hand and looked over at Sora's group with a nod. The brown haired one, the one in front, looked away as though embarrassed.

"You're kidding…" she muttered. The one in black looked at her for a second, before pushing the blond away.

"Problem?" she demanded. "Okay, fine. You do the talking." And with that, she vanished in a swirl of light.

The brunette quickly turned to the gang and bowed. "So sorry about this!" she gasped, before vanishing as well.

The last one, the blond, just giggled and saluted us, before she disappeared too. The four all glanced at each other before Sora shrugged.

"That was… strange," Aurora said, before shaking her head. "But come on, let's get going!" With that, she took the lead again. The four easily took the Heartless out and made it into the castle in record time.

"Wow," Sora muttered.

"Yeah, we've been busy," Aurora admitted, leading the way forward. She lead them through the maze of corridors, before finally reaching a door and opening it.

Inside was a destroyed lab. Containers of glass were on the ground, and the bookshelves that lined the round walls were half empty, their books scattered across the floor. Across front the door was a large portrait, showing a tan man with silver hair.

"Ansem…" Sora gasped as soon as his eyes fell on the picture.

"Gawrsh, I guess this must be his room," Goofy said.

"That's what the Committee has figured," Aurora said.

"Where the King?" Donald demanded.

Sora jumped slightly and turned. "Hello?" he called. Aurora smiled.

"Come on, it's this—" she began, taking a step towards a blank wall.

"Hey, Aurora!" a voice said from the door. Aurora turned.

"Ah! Tifa," she gasped.

"Did you deliver it?" she asked.

"Not yet. He left before I could speak to him," Aurora explained.

"Ah." She looked around the room, before looking at Sora. "I'm looking for somebody. Have you seen a guy with spiky hair?" Tifa asked. Aurora covered her mouth with her hand as a giggle threatened to escape. Donald and Goofy both turned to look at Sora, who tugged on one of his spikes.

"Heh, spikier," Tifa said.

"Not around here," Aurora said with a grin, while the boys shrugged.

"I'll just take a look around," Tifa said, before doing just that. Aurora waited, not knowing how many people should know about the computer, before she lead Sora, Donald, and Goofy down the secret corridor. Tifa walked all over the place, checking everything out, before kicking one of the walls. Aurora jumped slightly, but nothing more happened then a bit of dust drifting down. Tifa shrugged and turned to them.

"Sorry to bother you," she said as she headed to the door.

"No bother, ma'am!" the boys said, going to attention. Aurora smiled, shaking her head, and looked back at Tifa.

"I'll deliver it as soon as I see him again," she said. Tifa smiled at her.

"Thanks," she said, pulling the door closed behind her.

"So you made it," a voice said from behind. All four jumped and turned.

Leon was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, completely nonchalant.

"Leon!" Sora said brightly. Leon pushed off the wall with a nod to them, before noticing Aurora.

"I was about to bring them back when Tifa showed up," she explained.

"Ah," he muttered, before turning to the wall and touching a secret panel. The wall itself faded away.

"Whoa…" Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped. Aurora grinned.

"Right this way," she said. The five of them walked through a short corridor, before reaching the computer room. Sora instantly ran over to the keyboard.

"This is it!" he gasped. "Where's Kairi? Where's Riku?" he pecked at the computer for a moment, before slamming his hands down on the Keyboard. Aurora darted over, grabbing his shoulder.

"Easy, you wanna break it?" she demanded. Sora looked up at her with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, sorry," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "Guess I got a little carried away Aurora shook her head. _(Worse than Nick when it comes to tech. That's possible…?)_

"Whoa!" Goofy suddenly gasped. The group looked at him to see him looking up. Following his gaze, they spotted a blue… dog? thing clinging to the ceiling. It seemed to lose its grip and fell, landing on its feet… on the keyboard. Aurora cringed at that.

"Get offa there!" Donald yelled, before jumping up onto the keyboard himself.

"Donald, wait, no!" Aurora tried to catch him, but it was no use. He landed on it, while the blue thing laughed, jumped back, bounced off of Donald's head, then took off. Donald shook with anger for a moment, before turning. Alarms suddenly went off all around them.

"Attention current user. This is a warning," a loud, digital voice announced. "Further misuse of this terminal will result in immediate defensive action."

"Who's there?" Sora asked.

"It's the computer itself," Aurora told him, having more than enough experience with video games and computers to know this.

"I am the Master Control Program. I oversee this system," the computer replied.

"Where are you?" Sora asked. Aurora face palmed.

"It. The. Computer!" she answered again, making dramatic hand motions with each word towards the terminal that Donald was _still standing on._

Donald looked around a moment before, before taking a careful step… onto more buttons.

"Donald!" the other four in the room said in exasperation.

"I'm sorry…" he said as more alarms went off.

"Decision gate reached. You are now under arrest," the Master Control Program announced.

"Arrest!?" Sora gasped.

" _Objection!_ We didn't break any laws!" Aurora replied.

There was no answer as she, Sora, and Leon looked around, while Goofy walked over to get Donald off the keyboard.

Leon saw it first.

"Run!" he yelled. They all looked over at him, before turning to look behind him. Aurora cursed herself for being so slow… but it was too late. Beams of light shot out of a machine behind them, and the four of them froze, their bodies becoming pixels that got pulled into the machine. Leon's eyes grew wide, horror flashing across his face as he watched the four of them slowly disappear.

…

When Aurora woke up, everything was different. Everything, including her. Her clothes were gone, replaced by… she didn't even know how to explain the material. It was black, though, with bright blue lines of light etched through it. Even her wristband, which worried her about its functionality now.

She was also wearing an odd helmet, which pushed her ponytail down and to the side. She slowly pushed herself up, looking around.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy?" she called.

No answer. Suddenly, Heartless surrounded her, their bodies gleaming with yellow light.

"Back off!" she snarled, going through the automatic motions of activating her shield. To her relief, it appeared in a swirl of digital light. The silver bands of metal were now completely made of blue light, and the pure energy that made up the shield part now contained 0's and 1's. It was actually pretty cool looking.

 _(I feel like a techmage…)_ she thought to herself.

"I would not do that, if I were you," a voice suddenly said behind her. She spun around and found herself face to face with a man, taller than herself. His body suit… thing was light gray, streaked through with red light.

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it?" she demanded.

"Hmph." The man held his hand up towards her. The lights on her suit suddenly flashed between red and yellow, and she cried out as electricity surged through her.

"O-okay!" she cried. The electricity stopped. The lights returned to blue. She slumped slightly, panting.

"Hmph. Put her with the others," the man said. The Heartless began to herd her forward, until they joined another group. This one was surrounding Donald and Goofy, who looked just like her.

"You okay?" Goofy muttered, holding his hands up in surrender. Donald was doing the same. Aurora nodded, following their lead.

"Yeah," she muttered softly. The Heartless herded them forward, until they found the last member of their group.

"Sora!" Donald called.

Sora looked up from where he was inspecting himself, only to see the position those three were in.

"Go on, show 'em who's boss!" Sora said, about to start forward to help them. A light suddenly shined from next to him, and the man who had captured Aurora earlier appeared. "Who're you?" Sora asked.

"I am Commander Sark," the man said.

"A Heartless Commander?" Sora asked with a grin. Even with the position Aurora was in, she couldn't help but smile slightly at the absurdity of that.

Sark, on the other hand, was unamused. "Observe." He lifted his hand towards his prisoners. Aurora attempted to brace herself, but it was no use. The lights on her's, Donald's, and Goofy's suits began to flash red and yellow as electricity shot through them, causing all three to cry out.

"Okay, you're the boss! I get it!" Sora cried, lowering his head in defeat. Sark stopped, giving those three a break, and turned to Sora with a smirk. The Heartless rounded Sora up to, and lead them to an isolated set of rooms, putting them in one.

It was small, with only one window. Below the window was nothing that any of them could see, but the walls, floor, and ceiling were nothing but blue. Aurora paced anxiously.

 _(At least they're not grayish-white…)_ she thought. Sora watched her for a moment, before putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Peachy," Aurora replied, before sighing. "Sorry. I just… after the Organization, I can't stand being cooped up like this. Besides, we did nothing illegal, and we didn't even get a fair trial. They shoulder be _allowed_ to arrest us without at least a trial," Aurora seethed. Sora smiled weakly at her.

"Be… careful about wanting a trial," he said.

"Hm?"

"On other worlds, laws and all work differently. I went to one world, for instance, where I had to find evidence that proved it was the Heartless who tried to steal the Queen's Heart. I found like, four pieces, and she added one… then mixed them up in boxes and had me choose just one."

"Did you choose the right one?" Aurora asked.

"Yes, but then the queen said that me, my friends, and the poor girl I was defending were all to be beheaded, for defying the queen."

"Oooh…" Aurora muttered, putting a hand to her throat.

"Yeah," Sora chuckled. "Thankfully, all of us managed to escape."

"Well, that's good. Seems like Sark falls in line with that queen though," Aurora said.

"Hm. Yeah," he muttered, before looking around. "Man… what kind of world is this, anyway?"

Donald and Goofy looked back at the two of them and shook their heads. Someone else, on the other hand, had the answer.

"You're inside a mainframe computer system," he said. It was a man, sitting in the corner. He was a bit like Sark, having light gray, but his light lines were blue, as opposed to Sark's red.

"A what system?" Sora asked. Aurora facepalmed.

"A computer system—for processing data," the man elaborated. "This system is a copy of one created by a corporation called ENCOM. The original program was destroyed."

Although Aurora could follow all of that perfectly, she could still see the confusion on Sora, Donald, and Goofy's faces.

"This copy was acquired by another User," the man stood. "The new User updated and customized the programs, renaming the system 'Hollow Bastion OS.'" I guess the man saw the three boys' confused faces, because he continued to elaborate. "He used the system for town maintenance, and to advance his private research."

Still more blank looks. Aurora pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You know that computer we were looking at, right before we got here?" she asked.

"Yeah…" Sora, Donald, and Goofy said.

"We're inside that computer."

"Oooh…"

"My name is Tron," Tron said. "I'm a security program."

"Like a cop," Aurora hissed to the boys.

"But now I'm under arrest, same as you," Tron added.

"Gawrsh, how about we just introduce ourselves?" Goofy said.

"I'm Sora," Sora said.

"And I'm Donald."

"Nice to meet'cha, Tron. I'm Goofy."

"And I'm Aurora."

"With that configuration, you must be Users," Tron said, inspecting them.

"Users?" Sora asked.

"People who use the computer?" Aurora suggested. The three pondered that.

"You better get out of here quickly," Tron said. "Who knows what the MCP will do to you?"

"You mean the Master Control Program, right?" Aurora asked. Tron nodded earnestly.

"Yes. It controls the whole system. If you idle here, you will be de-rezzed," Tron said. The boys looked confused, but Aurora jumped.

"D-de-rezzed? As in… deleted?"

" _What_!?" the boys gasped, jumping as well. Tron nodded gravelly.

"So, how do we get outta here!?" Sora demanded. Tron crossed his arms thoughtfully, before turning to a yellow terminal.

"This terminal could've gotten you back to the User world," he began. The boys began to look excited. Aurora, on the other hand, was taught to pick up on contradictions, and she narrowed her eyes slightly.

"'Could've'?" she asked. Tron nodded.

"The MCP cut the power fifty microcycles ago," he said. The boys sighed. Aurora looked thoughtful.

"There's a way to repower it though, right?" she asked. _(I mean, I know this isn't a video game… but it's a lot like one. What sort of quest do we have to do to make this work…)_

"Well… if we could bring the energy core in the canyon online, we could power it back up," Tron said.

 _(I knew it!)_

"The problem is," Tron continued, bringing Aurora's doubt back, "we're stuck in this cell. We're not going anywhere unless we unlock the energy fields."

Aurora looked over at it. "There's a Keyhole," she noted, before looking back at Sora, who grinned.

"Really…" he commented, summoning his Keyblade. Like Aurora's shield, it looked different. Every line of his Keyblade was etched with light blue light, while the colors themselves were dulled. Sora studied it for a moment before walking over to the door and pointing his Keyblade at it. A beam of light shot from the tip of the blade and hit the keyhole. A soft _click_ filled the air, and the energy field evaporated.

"Let's go!" Sora said, rushing forward. Donald, Goofy, Aurora, and Tron followed. They made quick work of the Heartless that stood in between them and the canyon, where Sora quickly solved the puzzle to energy core and brought the power back online.

Finally, they returned to the Pit Cell, where Tron instantly went to work on the terminal. The others waited for a few minutes, before Sora spoke up.

"So, what did you want us to do?" he asked, referring to the favor Tron had mentioned a little earlier.

The man finished on the Terminal and stood, turning to face us.

"Find my User. He'll give you the password to access the DTD," Tron said.

"You bet!" Donald said, but Aurora felt dread wash into her stomach.

 _(Wait. We're in_ Ansem's _computer. Which means Tron's User is… but everyone has said Ansem went to the Darkness. Riku and Leon and all said he was the enemy. Does Tron… not know this?)_

Before Aurora could say anything, Sora spoke up.

"So, um…"

"DTD is the name my User gave to the datascape," Tron explained, used to Sora's cluelessness now. "Copies of all the original system programs are stored there, along with anything that's sensitive or restricted."

"Is there stuff about the Heartless or Organization XIII?" Goofy asked.

"Hmm… Most likely," Tron replied, before turning back to the terminal. "A number of my functions were appropriated when I last took on the MCP. That's why I need the password," he explained. Aurora nodded, but the boys looked confused. She leaned over to them.

"MCP stole his powers. He needs to enter the DTD to get them back," she explained quickly.

"Oooh…" the boys replied.

Tron turned back to them. "Then, I'll be able to put this system back the way it was before the MCP got control and changed everything. The way it was supposed to be – a free system for you – the Users.

Goofy suddenly looked thoughtful. "Gee, Tron, ain't the MCP one of those programs, too?" he asked. "Do you know who it was who made it?"

"Actually, I don't know," Tron said. Aurora put a hand to her chin thoughtfully.

"It was probably someone from that ENCOM company you mentioned earlier, and it got copied over from the original," she said.

"Okay, we'll just have to find his User and ask him," Sora said. "What's his name?"

"You mean you don't know?" Tron asked in surprise.

"I have an idea. It's Ansem, isn't it?" Aurora asked.

"Yes. Ansem the Wise," Tron said in a warm voice.

"Ansem!?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped in shock, before looking at each other. The terminal behind Tron suddenly flickered, and he turned to it, tapping away at the keyboard.

"Looks like the MCP's on to us," he said. "I'll keep this terminal up and running. You better exit the system, now!" Tron said.

"Sure… but Tron… Ansem is…" Sora started.

"We'll get ya the password!" Donald cut him off.

"Okay. You're good to go. Hurry!" Tron said, stepping away from the Terminal. Aurora walked over to it, the other three behind her, and clicked a button. Suddenly, light surrounded all four of them, and they vanished before Tron's eyes.

…

Leon typed furiously at the computer, trying to figure out what happened to the four. However, every route he tried was blocked by a firewall, and he found his patience growing thin.

Just as he slammed his fist down on the keyboard, he heard the machine behind him whirl to life. There hadn't been any warning or alarms, but he still turned, wanting to be ready for anything.

To his relief, the only thing that happened was Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Aurora's reappearance.

"What happened?" Leon asked. Aurora smiled, glancing at Sora, Donald, and Goofy's still confused faces.

"There's a world inside of there," she explained. "And we were transported into it."

"In there, we met this guy, Tron. He asked us to find the password to the DTD," Sora said.

"That's probably where all of the information we need is," Aurora added.

"Hm… we could always search the lab," Leon suggested. The others nodded in agreement, and the older man lead the way.

Tifa had returned, and was searching the lab again. She moved around, checking different areas, before stopping in front of the large portrait of Ansem.

"Excuse me," she told it, stepping forward. The five watched as she gripped the corner… _and actually lifted it off the wall._ Like it was nothing. As she put it down, Aurora felt the impact through the floor.

 _(Whoa…)_

Behind the portrait, in purple, was a lot of writing, and an illustration of a heart. Tifa studied it for a moment before punching the wall again, this time with the same results as the last. She turned to the others, shrugged with a sigh, and walked away. Sora, Donald, and Goofy moved closer to inspect the drawing on the wall, while Aurora moved over to Ansem's desk, checking the drawers.

"Oh!" Sora suddenly gasped, pulling her focus back over to the wall. He moved closer and jumped, pointing to something on it.

"D!" he jumped again, pointing to something else. "T!" Another jump, another location. "D!"

"DTD!" Aurora, Donald, and Goofy gasped as Aurora came closer.

"What's up?" Leon asked as he entered the room.

"Look at this!" Sora said, turning halfway to face the man as he pointed at the wall. "This must be the dataspace! The DTD, see? The Door To Darkness!"

Leon came closer, studying it himself. "What do you know," he muttered after a moment. "But… that still leaves the password," Leon reminded them.

"Well, now that we know it stands for Door To Darkness, we should be able to figure that out, right?" Aurora said brightly.

"Say, fellas, did somebody mention the Door to Darkness?" a voice suddenly said from the door. Everyone whirled around. Standing at the door, wearing the black cloak from before, was the King.

"Your Majesty!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy all exclaimed. The king put a finger to his lips, looked around, and quickly closed the door to the lab. He pulled his hood down as he turned to face them again, only for Donald to tackle him in a hug. Goofy ran over and picked them both up in a hug, laughing, while Sora moved closer with a huge grin. Aurora stayed next to Leon, walking across the room with him, back to the corridor that leads to the computer room. She felt awkward, knowing she technically disobeyed him, and didn't want to bring attention to herself.

"Long time no see!" Sora said brightly.

"Shh!" the king said, putting his finger to his lips again. He looked around again. "The Organization might be listening!" he said. A sliver of ice trailed down Aurora's spine, and she shivered at the thought. Sora's face grew serious as well, and he put a finger to his lips with a serious nod.

Goofy put the king and Donald down, and the king gently pulled himself from the duck's arms, before he looked at the three seriously. "You mentioned the Door to Darkness?" he asked.

"Uh, yes, sir!" Goofy said as he and Donald snapped to attention. Sora stayed relaxed, just behind them, while Aurora and Leon watched on from across the room. "You see, we're lookin' for the secret password."

"Password?" the king asked, and the three boys slumped forward. The king's face lit up. "Oh, I guess you mean like a code!"

Leon shook his head slightly, a flash of amusement crossing his face.

"Well, the Door To Darkness can only be opened by the seven princesses. There's Snow White, Jasmine, and Belle…" the king started, ticking them off on his fingers.

"Of course…" Leon said, before turning towards the corridor. The others didn't seem intent on leaving, and Aurora's curiosity was getting the better of her, so she wondered over and took Leon's place on the edge of the desk.

"What are you tryin' to do?" the king asked.

"With that password, we can get access to Ansem's research data," Sora explained. The king jumped at that.

"So that means you might be able to find out where he is!" the mouse exclaimed.

"Stop jokin' around, Your Majesty," Sora said with a chuckle in his voice. "We already defeated Ansem. You know that."

"Looks like I've got a lot of explainin' to do," the king said, crossing his arms.

"We're listening, Your Majesty!" Donald announced, as Sora began to look thoughtful.

"Okay, but first, I've got a question," the boy said. Aurora put a hand on her locket, remembering how they said the King and Riku had been together last they saw them.

"As do I," she said.

"Hey," Leon suddenly said from where he reappeared at the mouth of the secret corridor. "Isn't Tron waiting for you guys?"

Those four turned to look at Leon, then the king, then Leon again. The King smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm not goin' anywhere," he said. "If those Heartless attack, I'll stand and fight with everybody here."

"Yeah, we will, too," Sora agreed.

"Then let's talk more later," the king said.

"That's a promise!" Donald added. The king nodded.

"I'll see ya when you get back."

Those four followed Leon back to the computer room. Aurora went to step over to the computer, but Sora beat her to it, and hit the 'Access' button. The teleporter instantly turned on.

"We could have just—" Aurora started, but got cut off as the beams of light caused them to freeze as it pixilated them, pulling them back into the system. They appeared in the Pit Cell again. Goofy walked over to the Terminal, looking at it.

"—transferred the data," Aurora finished with an exasperated sigh. Sora threw her a confused look.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Goofy, don't touch that!" Donald suddenly yelled. Before either Sora or Aurora could look over, they were surrounded by a bright light and transported away again.

"I didn't touch nothin'!" Goofy said once they reappeared, this time on a large empty area, .

"Welcome to the game grid," a horrifyingly familiar voice said, though the source was unseen.

"Game Grid?" both Sora and Aurora asked.

"That's right, you've been chosen to play a few games," the voice continued. "Lose, and you will be subject to immediate de-resolution. Win?" He paused ominously. "Well, no one wins," he finished with a chuckle.

 _(So… there's just no hitting reset on this if we lose. No extra lives, no cheat codes… great. This video game is just a little_ too _realistic.)_ Aurora thought in horror.

"We're not gonna play your games!" Donald yelled.

"You have no choice."

"Well then, get on with it!" Sora demanded. Light suddenly shone under each of them, and they were transported to different areas.

As the light faded, Aurora spotted a motorcycle-like bike in front of her. She walked over, inspecting it, before sighing and getting on.

"I've never driven one of these before…" she muttered, before giggling to herself. "Actually, I've never driven at all. Hm… let's see here…" She tested the different controls for a few seconds before the game started, a race through a maze, where the walls only appeared as she got close to them. Her opponents? The Heartless.

She could only hope Sora, Donald, and Goofy were okay, wherever they were, and whatever kind of game they were playing.

As she finished this round, all the walls dropped. Aurora looked around to see a large, purple Heartless shoot at Sora. Sora dodged to the side, and a hole was blasted into the wall behind him.

 _(An escape route!)_ she thought, turning her bike in that direction and gunning it. Moments later, the walls began to appear again.

"Damn," she hissed, veering to the right to avoid hitting the wall. A bit of weaving and turning later, she finally reached the hole, spotting Sora, Donald, and Goofy just ahead of her. All four of them shot through the hole in the wall and breathed sighs of relief. Before they could relax, light surrounded them once more, transporting them again.

This time, however, they reappeared in the Pit Cell.

"That… was the scariest video game I've ever played," Aurora muttered.

"Tron!" Sora suddenly called, before rushing over. The other's looked up to see him lying, face down, in the middle of the cell. They rushed over to help him as well.

Tron slowly pushed himself up, seeming exhausted, until he was on his feet.

"Ugh… I don't understand. Why are you here?" Tron asked in a weak voice.

"We came to give you the password," Sora said with a smile.

"Why didn't you just transmit the data?" Tron asked.

"That's what I was going to do," Aurora said with a grin, while Sora shrugged.

"Transmit?" Donald asked.

Tron suddenly pitched forward. Sora and Aurora moved closer, catching him in between them.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sora asked. Tron lifted his arm and put it on Sora's shoulder, using that to push himself up like it was hardest thing to do. To Aurora, he almost felt like dead weight.

"I'll be all right…. Once we access the DTD," Tron said. Aurora frowned slightly.

"Maybe it's a good thing we came in person after all," she said as Tron tried to stand up fully, only to stagger again. Sora looked over at her and nodded.

"Yeah. Well, come on," he said. Everyone nodded, and Sora took the lead, summoning his Keyblade. Goofy took the rear, while Aurora and Donald helped Tron, making sure he stayed on his feet.

Sora handled the Heartless easily, with only a few spells from Aurora to help, until the five finally reached the Dataspace.

"Whoa…" Aurora muttered once realizing it was just a small platform, with nothing for miles below. _(I'll just… not go near the edge…)_ she decided as they moved forward, walking right up to a terminal. Tron put his hands out, and a keyboard appeared under his fingertips.

"All right, what's the password?" he asked. Aurora looked at the boys, not knowing who the seven princesses were.

"Well," Donald started, "Belle, Snow White—"

"Aurora," Goofy continued. Aurora jumped slightly, but Sora shook his head with a smile.

"That's one of the Princesses's names, too," he muttered.

"Oh."

"Alice, Jasmine, Cinderella," Goofy said.

Both Donald and Goofy turned to look at Sora. Even Tron turned at the silence.

"Kairi," Sora finished.

"Kairi, got it," Tron said, turning back to the terminal and typing it in.

The platform suddenly shook. Tron turned back to them with a grin. "That did it!" he said.

That's when the alarms started.

" _Now switching DTD over from hibernation to active mode,"_ a mechanical voice announced. " _This process will take some time. Please enjoy a game while the process is running."_

"Ugh, not another game…" Aurora grumbled, before her eyes widened, and she put a hand over her mouth. _(Never thought I'd ever say that…)_

"Oh no!" Tron gasped, having turned to look at the monitors. "This isn't a game, it's the DTD's final security routine. Stay focused!"

Suddenly, the Heartless symbol appeared on the three big screens, and Heartless began to appear. The group readied their weapons, ready for the attack.

As they began to attack, Aurora noticed a time on the terminal.

One minute, forty-three seconds.

"Guys, we're being timed! Just under two minutes!" she called, before holding her left hand up. " _HASTE!"_ she yelled. The gold clock timer appeared on the shield face, the arms spinning. She began to glow gold, and shot forward.

" _Water!"_ she cast, her shield becoming cloaked in the magical liquid. She dove forward, shield held up in front of her face, braced with her right hand, and bashed right into two Heartless. " _Take that!"_ she snapped as the shield connected. She allowed her body to roll into a gymnast tumble forward, before jumping back to her feet, throwing her shield forward like a deadly, water coated Frisbee. It bounced off a few of the Heartless, defeating a few, before returning to her hand.

Meanwhile, Sora stuck close to Tron, wanting to be sure the man would be okay, while Donald and Goofy moved forward, helping take the Heartless out.

Aurora skid to a stop a few feet away from the last one, and punched it with her left hand, making sure the edge of the shield hit first. The Heartless lurched away from her, before vanishing.

The Heartless symbols vanished from the monitors, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked over to Aurora, while Tron rushed to the terminal.

"Whoa, Aurora! You're getting _really_ good at fighting! That was amazing!" Sora cheered. Aurora giggled slightly, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks. I owe a lot of it to Merlin and Leon, though," she said.

"Still," Sora replied, before the four of them turned to Tron.

Tron pressed his hand against a panel. Light flowed from that, into Tron's hand. Once it was done, Tron studied himself with a grin.

"I'm as good as new!" he said, turning to the four. "All of my functions have been restored!"

"Oh boy!" Donald said excitedly.

More alarms went off, with the terminal flashing red.

"Ugh, not again," Aurora grumbled. Suddenly, a light shot down between the five of them, throwing Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Aurora back.

"Finally," the voice Aurora recognized as the MCP's announced, coming from all around them. Tron quickly turned back to the computer as four picked themselves up off the ground. "I have full access to the DTD. My takeover of the system is now complete. I might have anticipated such a simple password."

( _Simple!? There was like, seven names in that password…)_ Aurora thought incredulously.

"What's this? An emergency destruct program for the town," the MCP continued. "Let's see how it performs."

 _(What!? Why? Just… why?)_

"No!" Tron cried, turning back to the computers. He placed his hand on the panel, and light moved down his arm, entering the terminal once more, before typing furiously.

"Program!" the MCP snapped, sounding furious. "You changed the password!"

Tron ignored him, turning back to the group. "There, that should buy us some time," he said.

"Tron! Tell us what's going on!" Sora said.

"The MCP's loading a hostile program into the I/O tower," Tron said.

"What do we do?" Donald asked.

"We've got to protect the User town."

"So… we should head to the tower?" Aurora asked Tron looked at her with a grin and a nod.

"Right!"

…

The I/O tower, much like the rest of this world, was mostly blue. It was tall and circular, earning its name, and in the center was a platform with darkness pooling down towards it. To the right of the entrance was a terminal, much like the one they used in the Pit Cell to get to and from Hollow Bastion.

"It must be total chaos outside," Tron said softly. Aurora bit her lip, thinking about her friends, the Restoration Committee.

 _(I hope they're okay…)_

"I think there's gonna be trouble INSIDE, too," Donald said, pointing to the terminal. The screen showed a loading screen, the bar itself was dark purple.

"We should check around," Tron said, turning back to the door, the others following.

In the hallway just outside of the main room of the tower, a large Heartless appeared. It had three eyes, and was round and dark purple, with red spikes. It's arms weren't connected, but floated beside the monstrosity.

"I guess… this is the Hostile Program the MCP was loading into the tower," Aurora said, activating her shield.

"Seems that way," Tron replied, as the rest of them got ready for battle as well.

"I'm disappointed in you, Program," the MCP suddenly said, causing Tron to start slightly. "Why do you insist on allying with these selfish Users?"

"Because I want to help them," Tron replied. "Something written into my code commands me to do what is right."

"Really? And what command would that be?" the MCP asked.

 _(Uh… ?_ )

Tron, on the other hand, shrugged. "I can't really say for sure," Tron admitted, looking at the others.

"Friends—They help each other, that's all," Sora said.

 _(So now he has a command?)_ Aurora thought to herself with a tiny smile.

"Uh-oh!" Sora suddenly gasped. "Look out!"

Lights shot off the Heartless's spikes, creating barriers to cover the exits and effectively trapping the five.

The battle was tough, especially as the Heartless never stopped moving. It constantly circled the walls, shooting lasers and missals of light at the group. At one point in the battle, Sora ran over to the only girl in the group.

"Aurora!" he yelled. Aurora instantly knew what he wanted and dropped to one knee, holding her shield in front of her parallel to the ground and braced be her crossing her right arm under her left. Sora jumped up and onto it.

" _Aero!"_ Aurora yelled as Sora's foot touched her shield, at the same time as she surged upward, throwing him into the air. The spell gave Sora added height.

Aurora wasn't done, however. " _Water!"_ she yelled. A geyser exploded from under her, launching her into the air as well, and right into Sora's personal whirlwind, so that the two wound up back to back.

"Ready?" Sora asked.

"Yep. _Take That!"_ Aurora yelled as both she and Sora rose their weapons into the air. Water magic slammed into the heartless from below, while Thunder magic slammed into it from above. The effect was super effective, stunning the Heartless. Once the attack was over, and Sora and Aurora were back on the ground, Sora clasped Aurora's shoulder.

"Good job!" he said. Aurora grinned and shot forward, attacking alongside him, until finally, the Heartless shuddered and dropped to the ground. It slowly began to glow, until finally, it exploded.

The group returned to the I/O Tower, where the darkness in the center of the room had turned to light. Tron got to work on the terminal right away.

"I really owe you one," he told the group. "With all my functions up and running, I think I've got a chance of getting system control away from the MCP. Now I'd better get to work. It's what my User would want."

Aurora cringed at those words, before glancing over at Sora.

"What Ansem would want…" he breathed to himself, before looking at the others. Donald and Goofy nodded, but Aurora shrugged.

 _(I never met this Ansem they keep speaking of. Heck, I still don't know if that guy was Riku… or Ansem…)_ she thought to herself.

"Listen, Tron," Sora started, "we didn't get the password from Ansem."

"We kinda just found it," Aurora added, "back in the User world, by accident."

"And one more thing…" Sora picked back up. "Ansem—he was our enemy. I mean, he still is, I guess," Sora trailed off as Tron stood.

"Well, actually…" Tron sighed. "He's my enemy, too."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked in shock.

"Ansem took ENCOM's original system and customized it for his own use. I was part of the original system, and Ansem modified me, too. So, that makes him my User," Tron explained. "But Ansem is also the one who brought back the MCP. The Ansem I first knew wouldn't do that," Tron said with a frown. He then looked up at his friends. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Sora looked up from where he had his arms crossed, a perplexed look on his face. "That's okay… but now I _really_ don't get it."

"Perhaps there was two Ansems? Like, two people with the same name?" Aurora said. The others looked over at her.

"Impossible!" Donald snapped.

"Well, why not? Tron says the Ansem he first knew wouldn't have freed the MCP, yet a man named Ansem did. The King seemed pretty keen on finding him, despite what happened, and although you all said you defeated him, I… saw someone by that name, not too long ago," Aurora said.

"It's just too perfect! Why would there be _two_ Ansems?" Donald replied.

"Well… I don't know. But we should twist the evidence to fit the theories," she said quoting a good friend of her's and Nick's ancestor. Donald huffed, not liking that answer.

"For what it's worth, I don't… understand it either," Tron said now that it looked like their argument was over. "But I think Users, like you, are going to be the ones who will finally figure it out. You have the ability to take illogical routes and still arrive at the answers you seek."

"Now go—before the MCP starts acting up again!" Tron said. The four nodded, moving over to the Terminal. Before they could leave, though, Tron stopped them once more.

"Any data you need from the DTD can be accessed directly through my User's terminal," he said. "I'll keep a dedicated access channel open for you. I changed the password, so you won't have to worry about the MCP for a while," he finished. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked confused, but Aurora nodded.

"Access Channel?" Sora asked. Aurora face palmed.

"I knew you'd ask," Tron said, laughter filling his voice. "It's a very important link between our worlds. It's how we stay connected," Tron explained, wording it in a way for the computer illiterate to understand. Tron clicked a button on the terminal, and light surrounded those four. "You, my friends, are the new password," Tron said. Sora grinned.

"Thanks Tron. Take care!"

"You too! And give my best to the Users!" Tron said as the three disappeared from this world, back to Hollow Bastion.

Leon turned from where he stood in front of the computer.

"Well, that's that!" Sora said, walking forward.

"Look," Leon said with a small smile, pointing to the screen. The screen was orange, with four pixilated images. Aurora smiled when seeing it was of her, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, all standing over the words 'THANK YOU!'

"Tron, hang in there," Sora said warmly.

"So, where do we start?" Leon asked.

"We should access the DTD. Try to get as much info as we can," Aurora said, stepping forward. Leon nodded, stepping forward and clicking off that screen. Meanwhile, the three guys stepped away, looking around. Leon could feel their anxiety.

"The King's checking the situation in town," he explained. "He'll be back soon, so don't worry." He hesitated, his hands raising from the Keyboard. "Hey, look, it's asking for a password."

"That's easy. It's—" Goofy started, when Sora interrupted.

"Sora!"

Amusement crossed Leon's face, and he turned back to the keyboard, starting to type.

"Aurora!"

"Donald!"

"Goofy!"

"That's… to the point," Leon said.

"Well?" Sora asked, moving closer so that he could see the screen.

"That did it. We're in," Leon said as the screen came up. "I have to go into town. Need to see what that last shakeup did."

"You're not gonna check out the data? It wasn't exactly easy to get!" Sora complained.

Leon turned and looked at the computer. "I'm coming right back," he said. He then turned to Aurora. "Hey, Aurora – why don't you get started on loading the data and copying it down?"

"Sure," Aurora said with a smile, stepping to the computer. She studied the screen and the keyboard for a moment. Leon smiled and clasped Sora on the shoulder, before walking out, waving without looking back.

Suddenly, Donald was at Aurora's side.

"Did it work?" he asked.

"I haven't even started typing yet!" she said, letting her finger tips rest on the keyboard. "Let's see…" _(This isn't the same operating system I had back home, so the commands will be different. But… maybe if I just start typing…)_ Aurora hit enter experimentally.

"Whoa! It's doing something!" Sora gasped. Aurora bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Suddenly, a search engine like bar popped up.

"I think it wants to know what we wanna know," Goofy said. Aurora nodded.

"Alright, let's try this," she muttered, about to start, when Sora suddenly pushed forward.

"Riku and Kairi!" he said, typing in their names.

"Sora, I doubt—" Aurora began, when a red window popped up.

 _DATA ERROR._

"No way…" Sora sighed. "Even Ansem's computer doesn't know…" the boy said, turning his back on it and moving away. Aurora took her spot again at the keyboard.

"Well, let's try something else," Aurora said, typing in 'Nobodies' and hitting enter.

She felt those three move closer again, looking at the screen over her shoulder (or, in Donald's case, from under her elbow). A gray window popped up, containing the Nobody symbol and some writing. "Score!" she said, looking around for a disc to copy this onto.

Suddenly, the red box popped up. " _The data is corrupt,"_ a mechanical voice announced.

"Ooookay…" Aurora muttered. "How about the Organization?" she said, typing 'Organization XIII' into the search engine. A loading screen appeared again, but this time, the red window popped up before anything else did.

"Huh…" _(It's like something purposefully ruined the data. I doubt the MCP did that…)_

"Stupid computer!" Sora suddenly yelled, slamming his hands down on the keyboard.

"Whoa, Sora!" Aurora yelled, watching as the windows went crazy on the screen. She reached forward and grabbed his wrists.

"Stop! That how—"

"Huh?" Sora gasped, cutting Aurora off. "Who's this guy?"

Aurora turned to see a profile had appeared. The words to the right were gibberish to her, but the picture on the left showed a handsome, middle aged man, blond, with a mustache of beard. He wore a white lab coat with a red scarf, and had a serious expression on his face.

"Welp, I see ya got things workin'!" the King said from behind them, causing all four to jump and turn.

"Oh, Your Majesty!" all four gasped. The king jumped slightly, and put a finger to his lips, reminding them to be quiet. He then walked forward.

"Good goin'! The computer should tell us the things we need to know," he said.

"But it keeps on sayin' the data inside's all ker-skuffled," Goofy said.

"All we got is a picture of some guy we don't know," Sora said, stepping aside so that the king could see the screen.

The mouse king looked at it for a moment, before jumping. "Ansem the Wise!" he gasped. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all looked at each other for a moment, before Sora answered.

"Come on, are you teasing us again?" he asked with a shrug.

"Did you forget what Ansem looked like, Your Majesty?" Donald asked.

"Of course not!" the king said. "This is him! I'm positive!"

Sora shook his head and stepped forward, taking the king's hand and gently pulling him back to the lab. "Excuse me? Could you come this way, please?" he said. Aurora shook her head.

"There could be more than one Ansem," she said softly.

"Could not!" Donald countered, before following after them. Aurora rolled her eyes, but followed as well.

Sora stopped in front of the painting. "Look," he told the king. " _This_ is Ansem. You know, the guy we all worked reeeally hard to defeat?"

"Oh, that's right. I never finished explaining," the king said.

 _(You never STARTED explaining…)_ Aurora thought.

"Well, the man in this picture is definitely the one who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts—the one you fellas defeated. But, what you actually fought was his Heartless. Ya see, he wasn't really Ansem. He just went around telling everybody that he was."

"You mean…" Sora began thoughtfully, before his eyes widened.

"Whaaaat!?" he, Donald, and Goofy all cried at once, causing both the king and Aurora to jump in surprise.

"We went through all that trouble to defeat an imposter?" Sora asked, slumping forward.

"Yep. A fake. But he still had to be stopped," the king replied.

"Aw, I can't believe it…" Donald groaned. Aurora smiled slightly, putting a hand on his back.

"Looks like we were both right. There wasn't two Ansems, really, but they were two different people," she said. Donald nodded with a small huff.

"Uh, I'm kinda confused," Goofy announced. "If he's a fake, then what happened to the real Ansem?"

"Welp, that's just what I'm tryin' to figure out," the mouse king announced. "Ansem the Wise should know all about Organization XIII's plans, and what's been happening to the worlds. I'm pretty sure he'll give us some help." He turned to the group again. "Ya know, I came close to finding him once…"

"Hmm…" Goofy hummed thoughtfully.

"Don't tell me there's more? I'm lost enough as it is!" Sora said.

"Well, let's see," Goofy began. "Some feller named Ansem, who wasn't really Ansem, became a Heartless. Does that mean a Nobody got created when that happened, too?" Goofy asked.

"Yup!" the king said. "And that Nobody is the leader of the Organization."

Aurora gasped softly at that, remembering back to her time in their stronghold.

"You mean Xemnas, don't you?" she asked. Everyone turned to her, and the king's eyes softened.

"That's right," he said, nodding slightly as though to acknowledge the fact that he knew what had happened to her. He then turned back to the painting.

"I know I've met this fake Ansem before, and I've seen the leader of Organization XIII, too. Hmm, kinda felt like bein' around the same fella."

"So, where did you meet this guy?" Sora asked.

"Gosh, I can't remember," he said, crossing his arms. "Ansem the Wise—the real Ansem—must know the imposter's true identity. That's why I've got to find him and ask him about it."

"You…!" Sora suddenly growled at the picture, his eyes narrowed. "You started all of this! Because of you, Riku and Kairi-! Oh!" He turned to the king. "Your Majesty, do you know where Riku is?" he asked. Aurora quickly looked over as well, hope bursting into her chest. The king froze, before sighing.

"He's…" he hesitated, then sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't help," the king said, not looking either in the face.

Sora looked at him for a moment, before moving closer, trying to glimpse his face. "Really, Your Majesty?" he asked. "Are you sure?" The king turned away from him.

"I'm sorry, Sora," the king said. Aurora walked over, kneeling to eye level with the king, her hand over her locket.

"Nothing, at all?" she asked softly. The king shook his head, not looking up.

"What about Kairi?" Sora asked. "Organization XIII might've kidnaped her."

Life re-entered the king, and he spun to face the boy. "Oh-no!" he gasped. He looked at the painting for a moment, before nodding to himself. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Aurora." He turned to face those four. "I was plannin' to go get help from Ansem the Wise. But—now I know I forgot the most important thing. Helping others should always come before asking others for help," he said. "We're safe and sound—and free to choose! So there's no reason we shouldn't choose to help our friends."

The four nodded. Aurora smiled at that. _(Helping other's should always come before asking for help. Almost sounds like one of Nick's proverbs about Defense Attorneys, heh.)_

"Let's look for Riku and Kairi together."

Suddenly, the whole castle shook like a massive Earthquake, throwing all five of them off balance. Aurora managed to grab the edge of the desk to keep herself upright, while the rest kept their balance.

"Outside!" Sora cried, turning towards the door.

"Sounds like we gotta start by helpin' out here!" the king said, taking off towards the door. The remaining four nodded, following after him.

Aurora knew the corridors like the back of her hand, so she easily lead them through. They stopped, however, when they reached an open space. Dusk Nobodies filled the area, fighting against Armored Knight Heartless. At the head of it was a woman in a black robe with horns, her face an almost sickly green. The boys frowned, dropping into their fighting stances, and Aurora followed their lead.

"Hmph," the woman huffed, vanishing in a burst of green flame. "Heartless!" her voice echoed through the room. "Leave the white ones. Turn your attention to Sora and his friends!"

"Uh-oh!" Goofy gasped.

"I'm guessing she's not a fan of yours," Aurora muttered to Sora, activating her shield.

"Heh, not really," Sora replied, getting ready himself. Both the Dusks and Armored Knights threw themselves at the group, attacking. Aurora used a combination of spells and physical attacks, dodging the creatures' attacks. As they defeated those, a few more Heartless appeared. These were different from the Armored Knights, though, and Aurora hated fighting these. The Crimson Jazz's, which floated around, shooting fireballs everywhere at the group.

Reflecta became a much used spell during this part, until finally, Sora finished off the last one.

As they finished the battle, the three fairy girls they had met in the Bailey flew over to them.

"Where's Maleficent?" the brunette asked.

"Looks like she ran away," Sora replied.

"Well, that was PRET-ty lame of her," the blond sighed.

"I guess we picked the wrong side," the dark-clothed one said.

The three turned to each other, huddling up and talking Aurora smiled slightly as she heard snippets of the conversation, mainly about how lame Maleficent was. She leaned over to Sora.

"I guess that woman with the green fire was Maleficent?" she asked softly.

"Mhm," Sora muttered with a nod, watching the girls.

"Um, hey," Sora finally interrupted, "if you're looking to pick sides, why don't you pick Leon's? They can always use help."

"Right! The Restoration Committee is always looking for fresh hands," Aurora added with a grin.

The girls turned back to them.

"Does this Leon have any treasure?" the brunette asked.

"Yeah, lots of stuff!" Donald said brightly.

"Perfect!" the blond cheered.

"Come on!" the dark-clothed one said.

"Who _are_ you?" Sora asked.

"Oh, we're nothing worth mentioning," the brunette said brightly.

"Just three treasure fanatics," the dark-clothed one added.

"Later, taters!" the blond said, and the three vanished in flashes of bright light.

"Does Leon… really have any treasure?" Sora mused.

"No," Aurora said flatly, looking over at Donald, who cackled, almost evilly, before taking off. The other three followed, with Aurora taking the lead again.

The three quickly made it out of the castle and to the Postern, where Aurora stumbled to a halt, a chilling wind suddenly blowing over her.

Light shot down from the sky. As it faded, a man slowly stood up straight. He had long, silver hair, and a single, blackish-purple wing sprouting from his back. At his hip was a long sword.

"Guys, it's Sephiroth!" Donald gasped. Aurora shuddered as the man's darkness continued to make her feel cold.

"Ain't Sephiroth the one who's supposed to be the dark part of Cloud's heart?" Goofy asked.

"Hmph. Did Cloud tell you that?" Sephiroth asked. "Then he must understand now."

"Just what are you gonna do to him?" Sora demanded.

"Nothing. Cloud is the one who hungers for Darkness," Sephiroth said.

"You're wrong. Cloud's heart is full of light," Aurora said. Sephiroth just smirked at her comment, not answering.

"Cloud's said he's got a score to settle with you," Sora said.

"I see…" Sephiroth said. "He wants to meet me again…" he turned away from the group. "Then I should give him what he wants. That last bit of light is always the hardest to snuff out."

"He's too strong—his light is too strong. He won't give in," Aurora growled, stepping forward. Sora reached out to grab her shoulder, remembering how Cloud's warning.

"Hmph," the man said, before floating into the aid. The group watched as he disappeared in a flash of darkness.

As they started forward again, Goofy noticed something in one of the cliff walls near the castle.

"Where did that come from?" he muttered. The group turned to see a giant hole in the wall.

"A hole. Is something in there?" Sora said thoughtfully.

"Ah!" Aurora gasped, darting over to it. "We just finished outside repairs too," she groaned, looking in. There was a long, dark drop inside, and Aurora quickly backed up before vertigo could get the better of her.

"We'll check it out later! Right now, we have to go find the King!" Donald snapped.

"Yeah…" Aurora sighed.

The group quickly fought their way down the path leading to town, taking out Heartless and Nobodies alike, and even helping Aerith and Leon.

"The King's in the Bailey! You better head over there!" Leon called once the creatures were gone, running ahead.

"Got it!" Sora called back, rushing forward with Aurora, Donald, and Goofy at his side.

The Bailey was destroyed. The gate leading from town to the castle had been blown to pieces, and half of the wall was collapsed.

"Oh my gosh," Aurora gasped. Sora put a hand on her arm.

"It'll be patched up soon. I just know it," he said. Aurora nodded. Despite not being originally from Hollow Bastion, she had come to care for it just like her own home. Seeing the damage it was taking from the Heartless… well, it was heart breaking. She clung to Sora's words though, knowing he was right.

"Yeah," she said softly, before following him forward.

They slowed to a stop on one of the cliffs, able to see far into the Dark Maw from this vantage point.

"Whoa…" Sora gasped, while Aurora's heart plummeted into her stomach.

Thousands of Heartless were surging forward. Aurora knew, if they reached the town, all would be lost.

As she watched, Aurora began to pick out different members of the committee. There was Yuffie. She caught her throwing star and fell back, though Aurora wasn't sure if it was exhaustion or injury. A green light shone around her, a cure spell, and suddenly, there was Aerith, helping the ninja back to her feet.

A blue blur bounced around, green beams of light shooting from it and striking the heartless.

The three fairy girls they had run into twice already were fighting Heartless up on one of the cliffs, though they weren't doing much to thin the numbers.

Cloud and Leon fought back to back, taking out Heartless one by one, in quick succession.

Aurora thought she saw a flash of silver, then Tifa was there, fending off the Heartless as well.

"Leon, everybody—hand in there!" Sora said. Aurora took a deep breath.

"We're coming."

They ran forward again, but didn't take more than a few steps, when the King landed in front of them.

"Okay, fellas, you've gotta go find Riku and Kairi!" he said. "And Aurora, you need to stay back where it's safe."

"What!?" Aurora gasped, shocked by that. It was Twilight Town all over again!

"But Leon and the others are friends too!" Sora exclaimed.

"Don't worry. There's already lotsa help here," the King said, still not turning to face them. "We'll take care of this fight."

"But… I promised Leon!" Sora said, sadness oozing into his voice. Aurora put a hand on his shoulder, before considering simply running forward, past the King. Donald and Goofy glanced at both her and Sora.

"Donald! Goofy!" the King said, making those two snap to attention. "Get Aurora to safety then take Sora and get goin'!" the King commanded.

"Riku, Kairi… give me a little time, okay?" Sora muttered to himself. Both of the King's aids looked at him, then at the pleading look Aurora was giving them, before nodding to each other.

"Your Majesty!" Donald called.

"We understand. We'll go search for Riku and Kairi!" Goofy said.

"Right. Watch for danger!" the King warned. Sora and Aurora both turned to them.

"You be careful, too!" Donald called.

"Wait, you guys!" Sora said.

"This isn't fair! I'm part of the Committee, I can help to!" Aurora added.

"Sora, Aurora, do as you're told!" Donald said.

"You're comin' with us whether ya want to or not!" Goofy added.

"C'mon, you two! Ya gotta be good!" Donald said, before winking at them. Sora, who had a retort ready on his lips, froze, before smiling.

"Gotcha," he said. Aurora relaxed with a smile.

"Right," she said.

"Well then, skedaddle!" Goofy said. Sora nodded, mouthing 'thank you,' before turning to face forward again. Aurora did the same.

"Let's go!" Donald said. Those four rushed forward, past the King, and down the cliff. The King ran forward to the edge, looking after them.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty!" Sora called with a wave, jumping down the next cliff.

"We have to do this!" Aurora said, following after.

"Hope you can forgive us!" Goofy said as he and Donald saluted their King, before following after those two.

…

Demyx didn't want to do this. He really, _really_ didn't want to do this.

Especially since Aurora was with Sora at the moment.

But if he didn't he knew it would be all too easy for the Superior to follow through on his promise—his threat. Especially with the Organization out in full force today.

So, he had to do it. But he _really didn't want to_.

As Sora, Aurora, and their two companions reached the battle ground he had chosen, he stepped out of a dark portal, causing those four to skid to a stop.

Aurora gasped.

"Edym!" she cried. Sora put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her from rushing forward. Demyx pressed his lips together, keeping a cold façade up and not letting himself crack.

"You were in the Underworld, weren't you?" Sora said.

"Heh, you've already forgotten, Roxas?" Demyx said. Sora frowned slightly.

"Edym, snap out of it! This isn't like you…" Aurora said, her eyes wide. Demyx looked over at her.

 _(She's grown up so much, and have gotten so strong. I'm really proud of her. Hell, she's even attending Themis!)_ Demyx thought, finally noticing the patch on her vest, the crest of Themis Legal Academy. _(I can't let them hurt her. But so long as…)_ his thought trailed off for a moment, before determination steeled over him. _(I know what I have to do.)_

"I'm no longer Edym. Didn't Roxas tell you?" he said in a cold voice. Aurora took a step back at that. "I'm a Nobody. I don't have a heart."

"But in the Underworld, you—" Sora started. Demyx threw his arm out, pointing at Sora. Never before had he felt so much like his cousin.

"Silence, traitor!" he snapped. Sora jerked back, his eyes widening at that.

Demyx dropped his left arm and threw his right arm forward. A Jetstream of water shot out from the ground, right next to his feet, and shot forward. Aurora brought her shield up, and the water slammed into it, throwing her backwards, back to the top of the steps the group had just come down.

 _(Sorry, Aurora.)_ he thought, trying not to wince.

As soon as she landed, Demyx brought up a barrier surrounding the area, trapping Sora, Donald, and Goofy in, and trapping Aurora out. He then summoned his Sitar, preparing for battle.

" _Dance, Water, Dance!_ " he yelled, summoning water clones for Sora to fight, while he took a moment to glance over to where he'd thrown Aurora. She was back on her feet, slamming her fists into the barrier, trying to get in.

Sora and his friends made quick work of his clones, forcing Demyx to focus on him again.

Sora was fast, but it was obvious he was holding back. Demyx vaguely remembered Sora mentioning Aurora asking the Keyblade wielder to try to save him, so it made sense.

So, he made his attacks stronger and harder. Still Sora held back. Demyx heard Aurora's cries for them to stop, but it sounded like it was coming from underwater.

Demyx finally jumped back. " _Dance, Water, Dance!"_ he hollered. More of his water clones appeared, forcing Sora to turn his attention away from the man. Demyx panted slightly, watching, but his mind was elsewhere.

…

 _Edym peeked into Aurora's room, watching for a few moments as she played her game system._

" _What game are you playing?"_

 _The girl looked up with a smile._

" _Pac-Man!" she said brightly. Edym came further into her room, watching as she made the yellow little circle race through the maze on the television. Aurora sniffled slightly, then sneezed, and Blinky the Ghost caught up to Pac-Man._

" _Aw…" she groaned._

" _Still got that cold?" he asked._

" _Yeah," Aurora sulked, shifting closer to lean against her older brother. "It's not fair! I wanted to go down to the river with you and your friends today."_

" _Yeah, but swimming isn't good for you if you're congested," Edym said, putting a hand on top of her head._

" _Yeah…" Aurora sighed, before peaking up at him. "But… Mom and Dad don't have to know… right?" she asked with a grin. Edym shook his head._

" _Mom and Dad would kill me. Besides, I bet Mom already knows."_

 _Aurora sniffled again, rubbing her nose with her wrist. "Yeah, you're probably right," she sighed. Edym smiled, kissing the top of her head._

" _I'll see you, okay?" he said, standing and heading out._

" _Have fun!" she called after him._

" _Love you!" he called back, before walking out the door._

 _Little did he know that would be the last time he'd see his home._

…

Demyx snapped back to the present as the last of his water clones were defeated, and immediately went on the defensive. He managed to knock Donald and Goofy out, careful not to hurt them too much, and turned his attention to Sora.

Sora scowled at the Nobody, but glanced back over his shoulder. Aurora was standing just past that barrier, slamming her hands against it, trying to get through. He turned back and threw himself at Demyx, swinging his Keyblade down, probably attempting to knock him out. Demyx brought the Sitar up and locked it with his Keyblade.

 _(This is my last chance…)_

Knowing Sora's head, and hair, blocked his face from Aurora's view, he dropped his façade. He allowed all of the emotion he had, but shouldn't, enter his eyes, and one word.

"Please."

He didn't mean for his voice to crack, but it did. It was just too hard to keep pretending. He was just so tired.

Sora faltered, his eyes widening. Then, understanding entered them, and he gave the slightest of nods. Demyx let himself fall back.

Sora began his onslaught, and Demyx could tell he was no longer holding back. He tried to block or dodge his Keyblade, but there were times where he wasn't fast enough.

Finally, he fell, collapsing to his knees. Sora stepped back, just as Donald and Goofy woke up. Sora watched as the Sitar disappeared from Demyx's hand, and the barrier shattered.

"Edym!" Aurora cried, throwing herself forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. Demyx looked up at Sora and mouthed 'thank you,' before he closed his eyes for a moment.

…

 _The sun was beginning to set. He and his friends had spent the entire day at the river, alternating between cooling off in the water, splashing each other, and working on their songs together._

 _They were heading back now. The shadows between the trees were dark, but that didn't stop Edym from noticing what looked like an injured animal between the trunks._

" _Go ahead. I'll catch up," he told his friends, hopping over the bush that lined the path. He moved closer to the animal, noticing it was black, with yellow eyes. It was so dark under the trees that he couldn't fully see it, but he could tell that whatever it was, it was twitching erratically._

" _Come here, let me help you," he said soothingly. The animal tipped it's head to the side, before suddenly lunging at him._

 _It plunged its claws into his chest. Edym cried out in fear and pain as he fell back, before darkness swallowed him whole._

…

 _When he woke up, he was in an unfamiliar town. It was still in the mountains, and it was still sunset, but it wasn't any of the towns he knew._

 _He himself even felt a little different. He couldn't explain how, but it was like he was… empty. He pushed himself to his feet, only to find a man in a black cloak stood before him._

" _You are a new being. One who has lost his heart. A Nobody."_

 _The man rose his hand, and gold, floating letters appeared before his face. They spelled his name._

" _As a new being, you must use a new name."_

 _The letters flew around him, until the man made an X appear. Edym read them, before looking up at the man. "Demyx," he said softly._

" _Yes. Come. The Organization will help you obtain that which you have lost."_

…

Aurora clung to her brother like a life line, sobbing into his neck. She felt his arms wrap sluggishly around her, giving her a squeeze.

"Don't be sad, Aurora. Now we're both free," he said softly. Aurora pulled back a little to look at him.

"…Both…?" she whimpered, before realizing the truth. "There were threatening me to control you," she sobbed. Demyx closed his eyes and pulled her back to his chest. Aurora wrapped her arms around him again, sobbing harder. Guilt, anger, and sadness crashed through her all at once.

Demyx began to glow, and his body began to fade.

"N-no! D-Don't leave me! Please!" she cried.

"I'm sorry…" Demyx muttered, his voice faint, as he vanished. Aurora wrapped her arms around her chest, hugging and curling in on herself tightly, as her sobs doubled, shaking her entire body.

"A-Aurora…" Sora said softly, coming over and putting a hand on her back. She jerked away from him, shaking his head, and Sora stumbled back a few steps. His own guilt was gnawing away at him, but… the way Demyx had looked at him… hat _pleaded_ with him… Sora couldn't just ignore that.

"Aha! There you are!" the King suddenly called. Sora, Donald, and Goofy turned to find the king standing at the foot of the steps, glaring at them.

Then he noticed Aurora. "Wha…?"

"It was her brother…" Goofy said. "He was part of the Organization, and…" Goofy trailed off, and the King's eyes widened.

"Oh…" he said.

Suddenly, there was an explosion from overhead. Goofy looked over, before turning to Aurora.

"Look out!" he yelled, shoving her aside. A boulder dropped down and slammed into his head. He was thrown back, and slammed his head again into the wall.

"Goofy!" Sora yelled as he and Donald ran over to him. Aurora pushed herself up, yanked out of her grief-induced stupor, and watched as Donald dropped to his knees next to his best friend.

"No…" the King gasped.

"Hey! You're the King's Captain! You gotta get up!" Donald yelled, shaking Goofy.

"C'mon, wake up!" Sora cried.

"O-oh-no…" Aurora breathed, painfully aware that if Goofy hadn't pushed her out of the way, he'd be fine.

"I'm sorry about the ice cream!" Donald called.

"Goofy…?" Mickey muttered. Aurora slowly walked over to him.

"I-I… I'm so…" she started, fresh tears running down her cheeks.

"Goofy…" Donald sobbed, resting his head on Goofy's chest.

"This is not happening… It can't be happening… It can't…" Sora muttered, inching forward before dropping his head, his voice shaky.

The King's fist clenched, and he turned his head, looking towards the Great Maw, past Aurora.

"They'll pay for this," he said darkly. He yanked off the cloak, summoned his Keyblade, and charged forward.

Suddenly, Donald let out a rage and grief filled yell, before jumping up and charging after him. Sora tried to stop the duck, before taking one last look at Goofy. Aurora took Donald's spot.

"I'll watch over him," she said softly. Sora nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, before taking off after Donald and the King.

Aurora kneeled next to Goofy for a few minutes, her arms wrapped around her stomach loosely.

 _(First Edym… now Goofy…)_ she thought.

Coldness suddenly washed over her, much like a blizzard. She stood, activating her shield, and focused on the portal that opened in the middle of the area.

"You're rattled by their deaths, aren't you?" an all too familiar, and hated, voice asked as a cloaked figure stepped through the portal, a rapier held loosely in his hand. Aurora frowned and tried to hold back the fresh wave of tears, but they still blurred her vision.

"Shut up!" she yelled.

"Hmph. So emotional. The best Defense Attorneys keep their cool in the face of a crisis," he said.

"Wh-what!?" she gasped. That was her downfall. The man suddenly rushed forward.

Aurora would usually be able to dodge the attack, but she was distracted by Edym's and Goofy's deaths, as well as the man's statement, that she wasn't fast enough. The man's shoulder rammed into her chest, slamming her back into the cliff wall. Her head snapped back, hitting the wall, and dazing her.

The man grabbed her wrist while she was stunned and wrenched her through a Dark Portal.

Goofy groaned and slowly sat up as the portal vanished, rubbing his head. "Gawrsh… that hurt…" he muttered, before looking around. "Guys?"

 **End Part Two**

…

 **A/N:** What have I done…?


	11. Where Hearts Go

**A/N:** So… fanfiction messed up my chapter last time, so two of my jokes, sadly, went missing… *sigh*

Also, I screwed up Aurora's quote. It was supposed to be "We should twist the theories to fit the evidence," not "We should twist the evidence to fit the theories." And, yes, she was quoting Sherlock Holmes, though I can't remember if he ever said that in the game…

Review Reply to Gamergirl: I… actually really dislike Tron's world in KH2, but love it in DDD. I don't know… maybe it's harsh on my eyes in KH2? But since Aurora's an avid gamer, I couldn't NOT have her go, plus a lot of people seemed to want to see Aurora go on an adventure with Sora. And I had that idea for their limit, so… As for Aurora's Attorney side, I realized that was lacking, and tried to fix it, haha. I'm sorry about Demyx… but don't forget what happened in DDD! As for the guy… you're right on both accounts. Think about it like this: Xigbar and Saïx's situations as of Dream Drop Distance, and think of someone from Aurora's world who had the reputation of always staying cool. Well, here you go!

 ** _Check out the ending note in this chapter for a way for you guys to interact with Aurora's story, by the way!_**

Now… ONWARDS!

…

 **Part Three – Reunions and Goodbyes**

Chapter Eleven: Where Hearts Go

By the time Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Restoration Committee realized Aurora had gone missing, it was too late. Aerith had let Sora into Aurora's house to gather her stuff, so that he could return it to her once they found her.

It was just another friend Sora had to find and save.

…

Aurora didn't know how long she was here, nor did she care. It was a cell this time, not a room. The interior of the cell was dark purple, with only one exit, a panel of bars.

As soon as the hooded man had put her in here, Aurora had stumbled to the back, slid down, and buried her face in her knees.

 _(Edym…)_

A few minutes later, Aurora felt something warm lean against her. She peeked up, and spotted a yellow dog, looking up at her with big, baleful eyes.

"That's Pluto," a soft voice said. Aurora lifted her head and saw a girl, around her age, with red hair. The girl came over and crouched in front of her. "And I'm Kairi."

"It's nice to meet you, Kairi," Aurora said softly. "I'm Aurora."

…

Two days went by before Kairi got Aurora to open up to her, then comforted her. Then Kairi told Aurora about what happened with her; how Axel had tried to kidnap her from the Islands, but a dark portal had opened, taking her and Pluto to Twilight Town. Then how Axel had succeeded there, only for her Saïx to take her and bring her hear.

Both girls were worried, and more than a little scared. Pluto constantly comforted them, and the girls took to sleeping back to back, with Pluto as their pillow.

Many more days passed, but without paper, Aurora lost count of how many. She began to fear that this would go on for as long as the last time did, until finally, Saïx came to visit them.

The girls were sitting in silence, petting Pluto, when he turned to the bars, suddenly alert. They glanced at each other before quickly getting up and moving closer to the bars.

Saïx stopped, turning to look at them.

"What are you going to do with us?" Kairi demanded.

"You're the fire that feeds Sora's anger," Saïx said, focusing on Kairi first.

"And me?" Aurora demanded. "It's not like you need me to control Edym anymore."

"Hmph. The Superior still has plans for you," he said, before turning away.

"No…" Kairi gasped, still stuck on his words to her. "Sora's in danger because of me…"

The sudden sound of a portal opening alerted the girls, and they turned.

"You!" Aurora gasped happily, darting towards the blond who leaned out of the portal. She smiled at Aurora, before turning her attention to Kairi and holding her hand out.

"This way!" she said. Kairi hesitated.

"Who-?"

"Believe in yourself. C'mon, hurry!" Naminé pushed. Aurora looked over at Kairi from where she stood next to the portal and nodded.

Nodding back to her, Kairi walked forward, and took Naminé's hand. Their joined hands flashed, and Aurora gasped slightly.

The feeling of them connecting, of their hearts connecting, was entirely different from her and Riku's hearts connecting.

But it was entirely similar to Sora and Roxas's hearts connecting.

 _(No… is Naminé… Kairi's Nobody?)_

Naminé pulled Kairi through, then offered her hand to Aurora, pulling her through as well. Pluto jumped in after them, and the Portal closed.

Unfortunately, they were still in The Castle That Never Was.

"I'm sorry, I'm not that powerful," Naminé said.

"It's okay. We can still escape," Aurora replied. She activated her shield, just in case, and followed them as Naminé lead the way, hand in hand with Kairi. Pluto ran alongside Aurora.

As they ran, Naminé's form shifted, becoming blurry. Aurora frowned slightly at that, that only adding to her theory of Naminé as Kairi's Nobody.

Suddenly, Naminé stopped, pulling Kairi to a halt as well. Aurora skidded to a stop on Naminé's other side, scowling at the Berserker Nobodies that blocked their path.

"Naminé," Saïx's voice said as a dark portal appeared in front of the Berserkers. "There you are."

The blond glared at him, defiance written across her features.

"Naminé…?" Kairi asked.

"Kairi. Aurora. I'm afraid leaving is not an option," Saïx said, holding his hand out for the two girls. He focused his eyes on the red-head. "I'll take you to see Sora." Kairi took a step back. "You don't want that?"

"I do. More than anything," she admitted. "But not with you around." Kairi brought her fists up into a defensive posture. Naminé glanced over at her, before mirroring her stance. Aurora rose her shield up, taking up position between the girls and Saïx, dropping into her own fighting stance.

"If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter," Saïx said.

"Go ahead. I've already beat you once," Aurora snarled.

"Yes, but this time, you don't have Ro—" Saïx cut off at the sound of a sword striking one of the Berserkers. He quickly turned to see a hooded man defeating the second one.

"You…" he gasped. Aurora gasped slightly as well, recognizing the mixture of cold and warm air that swept over her at his appearance. The man stood up straight, and his Keyblade was in full view. "Didn't Roxas take care of you?" Saïx demanded.

Naminé stood up straight with a smile. "You can take it from here, Riku," she said.

Both Aurora and Kairi turned to the blond. "Riku!?" they asked, before looking back at the hooded man. He de-summoned his Keyblade, before charging a Dark Firga blast in his hand and shooting it at Saïx. The older man crossed his arms in front of him, but was still thrown back by the blast. He did a backflip and landed on his feet, only for the unknown man to rush forward, grabbing the front of his cloak, and slamming him into the wall.

Saïx pressed his hand flat against it, summoning a Dark Portal behind him and sinking back into it. The unknown man went to follow.

"Wait!" Kairi cried, running forward.

"Please!" Aurora pleaded, right behind her, only vaguely noticing that Naminé had vanished.

The man paused. Pluto barked and ran over, backing him away from the portal. Aurora stepped forward before Kairi could, gently taking his arm.

"Riku… you're really here," Kairi muttered, moving up to just behind Aurora.

Those familiar visions tried to capture Aurora's attention at the physical contact, but she pushed them away, turning the man towards her and reaching up, pulling off his hood.

"I can't believe—" her voice caught in her throat.

It wasn't Riku's face that stared out at her, but the one from that painting in Hollow Bastion.

The Heartless that called himself Ansem.

 _(But it doesn't make sense! His heart… it's RIKU'S heart…)_ her thoughts grinded to a halt as she remembered that feeling, so long ago now, that she got, and just knew that Riku had given into the darkness.

Aurora put a hand over his heart. "Riku…" she said softly.

"You… still believe it's me?" he asked, not looking at either one of the girls. "Both of you?"

"Yes," they said at the same time. Aurora looked over at Kairi, who stepped forward.

"I might not have Aurora's ability to sense hearts, but… I just know, beneath this, it's your heart in there," she said.

"And she's right," Aurora added. Riku hesitated, then nodded, giving them a small nod.

"Now," Kairi added with a grin. "Let's go find Sora."

"Right," Aurora said. Riku winced slightly at that, but nodded all the same. Aurora smiled at him, taking his hand and walking forward with him and Kairi.

Kairi noticed, and couldn't help but grin at the interaction.

Those three quickly made their way through the castle, Pluto having run off again, until finally, they found a balcony like area. The walls were teeming with Heartless.

"But—Kingdom Hearts!" a familiar voice echoed from below. Kairi ran over to the railing, and gasped.

"Sora!" she called. Aurora followed her, and gasped, a large part of her guilt melting away. She was so relieved that the height didn't even bother her.

 _(Goofy! He's alive!)_

"Sora! It's really you!" Kairi cried again, once the boy looked up.

"Kairi!" Sora called, getting distracted. Some of the Heartless immediately jumped on him.

"Huh?" Kairi gasped, before frowning. "You leave Sora alone!" she yelled, slamming her fist down on the railing. She then backed up.

"Kairi, what are you—no!" Aurora called as Kairi ran forward and _jumped over the railing_.

" _Aero!"_ she cast on the girl so as to soften her landing. She then sighed and jumped over the railing as well, casting the same spell on herself.

As soon as they landed, the spells wore off and Heartless jumped on them both.

" _Water!"_ Aurora yelled, blasting them off of herself. Riku slashed at the ones on Kairi and pulled her to her feet, handing her a Keyblade.

"Take it," he said.

"Mhm," Kairi said, doing just that. "This time… I'LL fight," she said, slashing the Keyblade through the air with determination. She then grinned at the other two. "You know Sora's completely hopeless without us!" she said. Aurora giggled at that. "Come on, Riku! Aurora!" Kairi rushed forward, slashing the Keyblade at any Heartless that dared come near her. Aurora grinned at that and followed after, Riku right behind her.

Those three fought the onslaught of Heartless. It wasn't that they were strong: they were just Shadows. But there was a lot of them, and when they defeated one, three more would take its place.

Eventually, Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrived and helped finish off the last of the Heartless. Aurora breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kairi, you were great!" Donald said, turning to the girl in question. Kairi turned with a grin, flipping her hair.

Suddenly, Aurora tacked Goofy in a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!" she said.

"Gawrsh, Aurora, we should be saying that to you," Goofy said, scratching his head in confusion. Aurora looked up at him and smiled weakly.

"It's just… the last time that I saw you… it was right after the boulder hit you in the head, after you pushed me out of the way. I thought…"

"Oh…" Goofy said, before giving her a squeeze. Aurora then stepped back and looked over to where Sora, Riku, and Kairi were having their moment.

"Why didn't you let me know you were okay?" Sora asked. "Or Aurora? She's been worried sick!"

"I told you," Riku said, and Aurora couldn't help but smile that it was his own voice, and not that of Ansem's. "I didn't want to be found." He looked away, shame crossing his features. "Not like this… I couldn't. I fought with Ansem. With… Xehanort's Heartless when it invaded my heart, and I won. But to use the power of darkness, I had to become Ansem myself," he explained.

"Does that mean… you can't change back?" Kairi asked.

"This battle isn't over. And until it is, I still need the power of darkness," he said. Aurora recognized the fact that he was avoiding the question, but didn't say anything.

"Then, let's finish it," Sora said with a grin. "You're still Riku, no matter what!"

"Exactly!" Aurora added, while the others nodded.

"So how 'bout it," Sora asked, turning to Donald and Goofy. "Think we can handle one last rumble together? The King's waiting!"

"Yeah! Let's get going!" Donald said.

The six moved forward. Aurora expected Nobodies to attack any minute but… that wasn't the case.

Instead, they found themselves in a silver room. In there, were twelve panels. Two were blue, and the rest were red. On each panel was a weapon.

Bile rose in Aurora's throat when she spotted a red panel with a Sitar.

It's… a grave yard," she muttered. Riku stepped forward, putting a hand on her back to steady her.

"I'm sorry about your brother," he said softly. Aurora shook her head, willing the tears to not come. Somehow, she succeeded.

"It's okay," she said softly, before standing and looking around. The exit was blocked, but one of the blue panels, the one with a card, had a portal over it.

"I guess this is the only way forward," Sora said, stepping through it. The others followed after him.

They entered a balcony like area. Overhead was the heart-shaped moon of Kingdom Hearts. A beam of green slight stretched from a higher floor to the moon.

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"It's the King and DiZ—" Riku said. Aurora frowned at the mention of the man in red, her eyes darting over to Sora, but her thoughts on Roxas.

She really didn't like that man.

"—I mean, Ansem the Wise," Riku corrected himself.

"Wait, what!?" Aurora gasped. From everything she had heard of Ansem the Wise, he had been a kind, benevolent, and, well, wise leader. That image cemented itself after the King explained that Ansem the Wise was a different person entirely from the one that Sora and his friends had fought.

So to find out that Ansem the Wise was actually DiZ, the man who trapped, insulted, and manipulated Roxas into giving up his individuality… It only made Aurora more confused. Riku mistook her exclamation for just pure surprise and nodded.

"They must be higher up. We better hurry." He turned back to the only exit, and the rest of the group followed. Aurora's thoughts were still on Roxas, so she stumbled into Riku as he came to a halt. Looking around him, she spotted a man in a black cloak standing in between Sora and the rest of the group, his dark portal still fading from around him.

With a snap of his fingers, large cards sprang up around the group that was separated from Sora, spinning around them.

"Whoa!" she cried. Riku quickly took her hand, grabbing Kairi's arm with his other hand.

Then, suddenly, nothing.

When Aurora came to, she was standing in between Kairi and Riku, her hand still clasped tightly in the latter's. Five large cards were slowly moving away from them, fading from existence. Riku looked down at her hand, before looking up at her and quickly letting go, his tanned cheeks growing darker. Aurora smiled, blushing as well and holding her hand over her heart.

Sora turned to face them, relief washing over his face. The group walked over to him.

"You okay?" Kairi asked. After all, it was obvious he had fought the guy that had showed up right before they blacked out.

"Yeah! No worries," Sora said with his signature grin. "Let's keep moving," he said, turning back to the portal that had bought them here.

As they stepped through, Aurora noticed that the previously blue panel was now red. She shuddered, but forced herself not to look over at the panel with the Sitar on it. Instead, she noticed another portal had formed, overtop the last panel, this one with a Claymore.

"Saïx," she breathed.

"Seems to be the only way forward," Sora said, before walking through. The other's followed after.

This portal took them to a large room. A pathway was separated by a wall with tall spines on it, but at the end of the pathway was an opening into the larger part of the room. Most of the walls were actually a large window that gave a beautiful view of Kingdom Hearts, covered by a black, sheer curtain. And standing in front of the window, was Saïx.

He turned to the group as they reached the center of the room, and smirked.

"Only you could have made it this far in one piece… Roxas," he said, looking directly at Sora.

"That's really getting old!" Sora complained, stomping his foot. Donald and Goofy jumped in front of him.

"Yeah! He's Sora!" Donald yelled.

Aurora's blood ran cold as the man held up his weapon, getting it ready.

"Different name, same fate," he said, flipping it so he held it in a reverse grip behind his back. He suddenly swung the Claymore, and a huge gust of wind slammed into the group. Sora, Donald, and Goofy held up their weapons to block from any incoming attack. Before Aurora could react, Riku jumped in front of her, wrapping his arms tightly around her and pressing her against his chest. Those two slid back, as did Kairi with them, until they were out of the larger part of the room.

As Riku let Aurora go and turned, a barrier appeared, separating those three from Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the fight they were about to endure.

The man was even more of a wild beast then when he faced Roxas and Aurora. He's movements were erratic, his Claymore swings wide and wild. It was torture to stand, trapped behind the barrier, and watch those three go up against Saïx without helping them.

It was too similar to the battle in Hollow Bastion, when— _(No. Don't think about that.)_ she told herself firmly, before looking over at Riku and Kairi. They were watching in worry too.

Once Sora managed to knock Saïx out of that manic, Berserker state, he was a little weaker, but just as dangerous. What he lost in strength, he gained in strategic planning.

Sora was fast though, and for all of his thick-headedness, he was smart in a battle. He quickly figured out how to counter Saïx and his schemes, until finally, the man stumbled, backing away from the trio.

He wrapped one arm around his stomach and dropped his Claymore. He then turned, walking laboriously over to the window and looking up at the heart longingly. "Why… Kingdom Hearts… Where… is my heart?" he asked it, reaching for it as he faded into darkness.

The barrier dropped, and Riku, Kairi, and Aurora walked forward to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, who turned to face them.

"I don't get it. Why's everybody been calling me Roxas?" Sora asked, looking up at Riku.

"Because he's your Nobody." It was Aurora who answered, surprising everyone.

"My… Nobody!?" Sora gasped, looking at her, then at the rest of the group. "But that's crazy. I never turned into a Heart…" He trailed off as he looked at Kairi. "Oh. Right."

"It was when you came to rescue me, remember?" Kairi said. Aurora smiled slightly at the romantic implication of that.

"Xemnas was the one who found Roxas," Riku continued, explaining to Sora about his other half. "He could use the Keyblade because he was your Nobody. That's why Xemnas brought him into the Organization."

"But Roxas betrayed them," Aurora said softly. "He saved me from them and took me to Twilight Town, where I met Hayner, Pence, Olette, and later, you three," she explained. Riku nodded.

"And after that, I fought him because I thought it would help you wake up," he said, looking back at Sora. "I lost, but the next time we met I made sure I was the stronger one." Riku was silent for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. Finally, he looked back up at Sora. "Maybe I didn't need to fight him after all," he said, uncrossing his arms.

"You didn't," Aurora said. Everyone looked at her again. "The reason Roxas left the Organization was because he wanted to learn the truth about himself. He… he wanted to meet you, Sora," she finished, looking up at the brunette.

Sora's eyes widened as he looked up between Riku and Aurora. He then looked down sadly.

"Roxas… I wish I could meet him, too," he said.

Riku stepped forward, getting Sora to look up again. Once he had the boy's attention, he pointed to Sora's heart. Sora looked at him for a moment before putting his hand over his own heart.

That's when a thought occurred to Aurora.

She never saw, exactly, what Sora's heart looked like. It had to be interesting, with the addition of Roxas's heart.

She closed her eyes.

 _A path at high noon. To the right was a rolling, grassy field. To the left, it looked like there had once been a forest, but… all of the tree's had been ripped up by their roots._

 _A sunset over a peaceful city, the light spreading over the walls facing the sun, as long, deep shadows stretched away from the dark sides of those buildings._

 _A perfect mirror image of the previous heart, with just the same amount of light and darkness._

 _A sunny beach, the waves lapping at the sand rhythmically. The only shadows were cast by the spattering of palm trees further up the beach._

 _Each of these images were super imposed over each other, with the beach being the clearest._

 _(Whoa..)_ Aurora thought, opening her eyes in surprise. _(That wasn't one or two hearts… that was FOUR…)_

Suddenly, Riku turned towards the exit. "All right. Let's go," he said, leading the way. The rest nodded, following.

As they exited the portal, Aurora forced herself not to look down at the panel. That wasn't that hard though, when she realized the once light, icy blue color of the walls were replaced with an almost toxic looking purple. Turning, she realized the exit was unblocked. Their way was clear.

The six of them moved forward quickly, most of them taking the steps just inside the exit two or three at a time. The vice that had gripped Aurora's heart since they had entered that graveyard loosened, and she felt like she could breathe easier.

"But…" an all too familiar voice gasped from the landing at the top of the steps.

"Your Majesty!" Sora called, coming to the top. The king wasn't alone. Next to him, in DiZ's robe, but free of the facial bandages, was Ansem the Wise, trying to keep a grip on a machine that looked to be going haywire. It was the source of the green beam that was stretching out to Kingdom Hearts. Ansem the Wise turned to the group, his orange eyes glowing with untold emotions.

"Sora, the rest is up to you…" he said, before looking away. "And Roxas—I doubt you can hear me—but I am sorry."

The machine jerked. It was all the man could do to hold onto it.

"Ansem!" the King cried.

"My heart is telling me what I must do. Please allow me to do what it says!" Ansem said.

"No!" the King gasped, and it was in that moment that Aurora realized how close of friends the two must be. Riku stepped forward, kneeling to one knee and putting a hand on the King's shoulder. The King started and looked up at him.

"Riku!"

"His heart's decided. We can't change that," Riku told the King.

Suddenly, the coldest wind, even more bitter then the blizzard that haunted her nightmares, washed over Aurora as a dark portal appeared.

"I was wondering who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts," a voice said from the portal, as a man stepped from it. He was broad – muscular under his cloak, with tan skin, silver hair, and orange eyes.

In fact, he looked very much like the form Riku was currently in.

The man turned to the group. "And look – here you all are. How convenient for me." His eyes trailed off of the group and to the man struggling with the machine. "Ansem the Wise… you look pathetic," he said.

"Have your laugh," Ansem said, not looking over at the Nobody. "I deserve as much for failing to see you for the fool you are."

"Students do take after their teachers," the Nobody said, something akin to amusement in his voice. "Only a fool would be your apprentice. After all, none of this would have happened without you." With those last few words, the amusement disappeared from his voice, and he motioned to his ex-master. "You are the source of all Heartless. It was your research that inspired me to go further than you ever dared."

"I admit… my disregard brought chaos to more worlds than one," Ansem said. "But what were _you_ seeking?" he demanded. "You erased me from the world, only to take my name and continue research better left forgotten…"

 _(That's it! That explains why the Restoration Committee thought it was Ansem the Wise who betrayed them… and Tron…)_ Aurora's eyes widened slightly, and she clasped her hands over her heart. _(I want to hate DiZ – Ansem – for what he did to Roxas, but… he really is just a poor old man…)_

"Is this the answer you've been looking for?" Ansem continued.

"All that and more," Xemnas said without an ounce of shame. "I'm carrying on what you yourself began, and I'm creating a brand new world, one heart at a time."

Anger crept into his voice at this point. "I thought you'd praise me, but all you ever do is hold me back." He cooled off just as quickly as he flared up. "I understand, though. Unlike me, you have a heart. And you're powerless to control it. Consumed, by the jealousy you feel toward the student who surpassed you."

Ansem was silent for a moment.

"Xehanort," he finally said. "Foolish apprentice of a foolish man. You have surpassed nothing—only proved how little we both know. We may profess to know the heart, but its essence is beyond our reach. We're both ignorant—as oblivious as when we began. I'm afraid that any world you try to create," he finally turned to face his former apprentice, gripped by passion, "any world of yours would be an empire of ignorance. That is why you and your creation are destined to fall!"

The machine began to shake more violently, forcing Ansem to turn his attention back to it. "We've said enough! Riku, you know what to do!" He turned to face the King.

"King Mickey, my friend, forgive me! Farewell!"

The machine exploded right in Ansem's face. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Xemnas vanished, and Sora and Aurora both ran forward, trying to help the man at the center of the explosion. Riku caught them both.

Then the shockwave slammed into them.

…

The group slowly pushed themselves off of the ground with various groans. Aurora shuddered as breezes of various hot and cold temperatures brushed over her skin. Looking up, she saw that the once heart-shaped moon was now a heart-shaped hole in the sky, with hearts raining down everywhere.

"Riku?" Sora called in concern. Aurora's attention immediately snapped to the brunette. Following his gaze, her breath caught in her throat.

Riku looked different, even lying face down. His hair was layered, shorter, and silverish-purple instead of the silver gray. His proportions were completely different too.

Both Sora and Aurora darted over, reaching him and kneeling next to Riku at the same time.

Riku groaned and slowly pushed himself up. Aurora gasped when seeing the familiar blindfold and creamy skin.

"Riku…" she said, happy tears entering her eyes.

Once on his knees, he looked up as the rest of the crowd gathered around him, seeming surprised. Aurora smiled warmly, trying to keep the tears from trailing down her face.

"Riku!" Kairi said excitedly.

Riku quickly turned to Mickey, as though expecting him to have the answer. The King smiled.

"Ansem did say 'anything could happen'…" he said.

Riku pushed himself up to his feet, and Aurora and Sora stood too, looking forward. Then, Aurora noticed Riku was still wearing the blindfold.

"Do you still need that?" she asked softly.

"Hm?" Riku asked, before looking at her. He smiled slightly. "No, I don't think I do…" He reached up to take it off, but Aurora caught his hand.

"May I?" she asked. A wider smile crossed Riku's face, and he nodded. Aurora slowly reached up, slipping her fingers under the cloth, against the skin of his cheeks.

They were a little chilly, but warmed under her touch as his face tinged pink. She smiled at that and slipped the blindfold up and off his head, revealing his beautiful teal eyes underneath. Aurora smiled up at Riku, who smiled back.

That's when the snickers from Sora, Donald, Goofy started. Even Kairi was giggling! Aurora blushed brightly and hid her face in Riku's chest. He patted her back a little awkwardly.

"What was that?" Sora asked once he was done, motioning to the blindfold still clutched in Aurora's hand. It was Mickey who answered.

"His eyes couldn't lie."

"Lie?" Sora asked as Aurora finally let go of Riku and took a step back. Kairi smiled at her, bumping her with her shoulder. Aurora smiled weakly back at her.

"And just who were you trying to fool? Huh? Huuuhh?" Sora demanded.

"Myself," Riku answered. Aurora sighed softly at that.

"Riku… C'mon, man! Why did you try to do so much on your own?" Sora asked. He ran over to where the rest of the group stood, spreading his arms out to indicate all of them. "You got friends… like us!" Each smiled at him, until Riku moved over to Sora.

"Have you forgotten?" he asked, making Sora look at him in confusion. "I'll tell you why." A smile broke across Riku's face. "'Cause I'm not a total sap like you."

Aurora burst into a fit of giggles at that.

"Say that again!" Sora dared.

Sudden movement caught their eye, and they all turned to look at the hole that used to be Kingdom Hearts. The hearts were beginning to swarm towards it, slowly building it once more.

"Uh-oh!" Donald gasped.

They moved closer to the railing and looked down. Hearts by the hundreds were climbing the walls.

"What should we do, Riku?" Sora asked, looking up at him. Aurora looked over as well.

"We must defeat Xemnas. He's the Organization's last survivor," Riku said.

"Then… one of you managed to defeat the one with the rapier?" Aurora asked. Everyone looked at her, confused, except Riku.

"No… he's went into hiding. I searched, but I can't find him. Although… he was never with the Organization to begin with," Riku said.

"Wh-what?" Aurora gasped.

"I'm sorry, Aurora," Riku said softly. She shook her head and took a deep breath.

"No, it's fine. If he's not part of the Organization, we shouldn't worry about him. Xemnas it is," she said, looking forward with determination. After a moment, there was a rustle of clothing. Looking back, she smiled to see that Riku had discarded the cloak, showing off the clothes she had helped him pick out.

 _(I think he's even more muscular then before…)_ she thought with a blush. He turned to Mickey.

"Do you still have that locket?" he asked. Mickey turned and looked at Sora.

"Oh! You mean this one?" Sora asked, pulling the silver star-shaped locket out of his pocket. Riku smiled warmly, taking it and attaching it to the chain that still hung from his belt. He looked at the picture inside for a moment, before looking up at Aurora with the warmest smile she had ever seen on his face and putting it in his pocket.

He then looked forward in determination. "C'mon!" he said, leading the way. Aurora smiled and followed after him, the other's on their heels.

It almost seemed like the Nobodies were getting nervous. The more powerful ones, like Berserkers and Sorcerers, attacked as they moved higher through the castle, forcing them to waste time fighting if they wanted to get past. Aurora could tell Riku was impressed by her fighting skills, which made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside (though she had to force herself to focus even harder because of it).

Beyond the walkway was an interior room. The large room was full of platforms, connected by see through bridges, and it was not fun. It took all of Aurora's will power not to get dizzy or nauseous. Or both.

Finally, though, they got to the top, and Aurora breathed a huge sigh of relief, sagging against Riku, who chuckled slightly, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"And here I thought you got over your fear of heights," he teased quietly. He had figured out her fear when they had went to the carnival, and she had closed her eyes and clung to his hand the entire time on the Farris Wheel, nearly breaking the bones.

"I feel like I should have, by now…" she grumbled.

"Sora! Riku! Aurora!" Kairi called from behind. Aurora pulled back from Riku and turned, just as the two boys did. Kairi was pointing up at one of the windows. Looking up at it, they saw hundred – no, thousands – of Shadow Heartless spilling into the room.

They charged forward, stopping just before the last transparent bridge. Aurora's attention, like the others' was riveted on the black mass moving towards them.

"There's gonna be no end to this!" Riku said. Aurora grew cold at the sound of fear in his voice.

"Together we can stop 'em!" Sora said optimistically.

"Hmph," Riku huffed with a small smile. Even Aurora smiled at that.

Suddenly, a burst of smoke appeared just between the boys and the heartless. From it stepped Maleficent and Pete.

"Be gone from here! Leave these creatures to us!" the dark fairy commanded.

"But there's no way we can take 'em all!" Pete said.

"I will be sending them after Xemnas," Maleficent said, motioning to the group behind her at the word 'them.' "Or, perhaps, you would rather fight them yourself?"

Pete looked thoughtful for a moment, glancing between the Heartless and the group behind him. "Frankly my dear, I'd rather RUN!" he cried.

"Off with you then!" the woman said impatiently, before turning back to the Heartless. Pete backed up a few steps, before noticing King Mickey.

"Well, if it ain't the boat-boy King," he said.

 _(Huh? 'Boat-boy'?)_ Aurora thought.

"Time to weigh anchor, Captain Pete!" the King said.

"What, like 'abandon ship'? I don't think so!" Pete snapped.

"Sora! 'Your Majesty'!" Maleficent said, sneering the title. "Do not forget—when I've destroyed them all, this castle shall be mine!"

"Now lookie here. Opportunities like this don't come along every day, ya know," Pete said to the King. He then turned and walked back over to Maleficent, standing next to her. They both got ready to fight.

"Bring'em on!" Pete challenged, and they both rushed forward.

"We gotta hurry," the King said.

"But…" Sora began.

"We can't just leave them," Aurora said. She knew they were supposed to be evil, but…

"They're doing what their hearts command. We can't interfere," Mickey told both her and Sora, before turning to the exit. Aurora hesitated, the height of their platform not even bothering her as she watched those two try to take on the swarms of Heartless by themselves. Riku walked over and put a hand on her back.

"Come on. We need to get going," he said softly. Aurora finally sighed.

"Alright," she muttered, turning and letting him lead her to the exit, his hand lingering on the small of her back.

The exit lead to a set of stairs that spiraled around the tallest tower of the castle. Riku made sure Aurora was between the wall and himself, so that she wasn't close enough to the edge to see just how high up they were. At the top, though, those thoughts flew out the window when they spotted Xemnas, his arms raised, his gaze glued to what used to be Kingdom Hearts.

"Ohh… my Kingdom Hearts… ruined," Xemnas muttered. "Now I'll have to start all over again." He lowered his arms. "Warriors of the Keyblade!" he suddenly said, as though sensing them there. He turned to face the group. "Go forth, and bring me more hearts!"

"No!" Sora, Riku, and the King all yelled, summoning their Keyblades and pointing them at Xemnas. Aurora, Donald, and Goofy got ready to fight, standing behind the trio.

"Denizens of light, answer this: Why do you hate the darkness?" the man demanded.

"Aw, we don't hate it," Mickey said. "It's just kinda… scary. But the world's made of light _and_ darkness. You can't have one without the other, 'cause darkness is half of everything."

Aurora smiled slightly at that, glancing over at Riku. _(Everything, huh?)_

"Sorta makes ya wonder why we are scared of the dark," Mickey realized, looking down.

"It's because of who's lurking inside it," Riku said, his voice made of steel.

"Then allow me another question," Xemnas said, as though they had a choice. "You accept darkness, yet choose to live in the light. So why is it that you loathe us who teeter on the edge of nothing? We who were turned away by both light and dark—never given a choice?"

"That's simple," Riku snarled. "It's because you mess up our worlds." He glanced back slightly, meeting Aurora's eye, before looking forward again. "And our families." If possible, his voice was even harder.

"That may be… However, what other choice might we have had?" Xemnas asked.

"Just give it a rest!" Sora snapped. "You still remember your life before you lost your hearts. You know right from wrong!"

Xemnas laughed. "Very good. You don't miss a thing. Yet knowing right from wrong means nothing when I cannot feel guilt. No matter what misery befalls the worlds at my hands. No matter what you think, what you feel, or how you exist." He suddenly threw his arms into the air, and light rose from the ground, blinding all of them.

When the light faded, he was gone. Aurora's stomach dropped to her feet, though, when she realized Sora was too.

"Sora!?" she gasped.

After a few minutes of searching, they began to panic.

"Sora! Where are you?" Kairi cried, looking around.

"Sora, answer me!" Riku called.

Light suddenly appeared from above, and there was a dull thud from behind. The group quickly spun around to find Sora lying face down on the ground. He pushed himself up as the others ran over, quickly looking around.

"You're okay!" Mickey said, relief evident in his voice. Sora nodded and stood.

"Where's Xemnas?" he asked.

Aurora quickly stretched her senses out, before feeling that icy breeze wash over her. She turned towards the source, and gasped.

"There!" she called pointing up to Kingdom Hearts. Xemnas was floating in its center, holding his arms up towards it once more.

"Hear me, Kingdom Hearts!" he called. "It seems we must begin anew. Ah, but know this: I will give to you as many hearts as it takes. Mark my words! You can no more be complete without me than I without you. Heed me, Kingdom Hearts! Lend me your power, so that we may be complete! The power to erase the fools that hinder us."

"Xemnas! No!" Mickey yelled.

"Hearts quivering with hatred…"

"Xemnas! Don't!" Sora called.

"Hearts burning with rage…"

"You'll never win!" Donald shouted.

"Hearts scarred by envy…"

"You're wrong! There's so much more to a heart!" Aurora cried.

"That fool Ansem said the heart's true nature was beyond his understanding. But it's not beyond mine! Hearts are the source of all power!" He began to shine with a bright light, causing the entire group to cover their eyes.

When the light faded, Xemnas was gone.

"Xemnas! You can't hide from us!" Sora yelled.

"We're not gonna let him get away now!" the King said confidently. Kairi glanced to the side and gasped.

"Look at that!" she said, pointing towards the side of the tower. The entire group turned.

Light was gathering in a spot a few yards away and above the edge of the tower, growing denser and brighter for a few moments, before forming something solid.

A large door, the same color and design as most of The Castle That Never Was, with two Nobody Symbols on it and a third on the top. The group moved closer to examine it.

"What's goin' on?" Goofy asked.

"Kingdom Hearts…" Mickey said.

"Let's go. Xemnas must be inside," Riku said.

"The worlds gave us this doorway," the King continued, seeming in awe. "They want us to be the guardians of their destiny!"

Sora hummed in agreement with a nod.

"Once we go through, there's no turning back. It's victory… or oblivion. So, guys… are you ready?" Riku asked, only to be met by numerous nods.

The three Keyblade wielders pointed their blades at the door, and in another flash of light, a blue, translucent bridge appeared, and the door unlocked. They moved forward, only for Riku to stop and look back at Aurora. She could see the worry – no, fear – in his eyes.

 _(He's going to tell me to stay behind. For my own safety. If he thinks-)_ her train of thought came screeching to a stop when he held out his hand for her.

"Since you're still not good with heights," he said with a small smile, glancing up at the door.

"You're not going to stop me or try to make me stay behind because it's too dangerous?" she asked. Riku snorted at the thought.

"Even if I tried, you'd still come. No, I know you can handle it," he said with a smile. Aurora smiled back and took his hand, walking with him to the door.

The area they walked into once they crossed the threshold was surreal. It was like a city, but the buildings had odd designs on them made of white, glowing lines. Ahead was a large, white tower with a black Nobody Symbol on it, and a white dragon hovering over it. Gasps escaped all of them, especially once they noticed Xemnas on top of the tower.

"So… it seems your hearts have led you to obliteration." His voice was magnified, echoing all around them. "Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's heart. I will have to be sure to remember that." He made a forward motion with his hand, and a building fell towards them. They turned and ran back towards the door, falling to the ground as it shook with the force of the building slamming into it. Aurora pushed herself up and looked forward. Mickey and Kairi were on the other side of the door, which was closing, leaving Sora, Riku, Aurora, Donald, and Goofy on this side.

"No!" Riku yelled as they all rose to their feet. Sora turned his back on the door, summoning his Keyblade.

"We can take him on our own!" he yelled. Riku and Aurora nodded, and the rest of them summoned/activated their own weapons.

The issue, first, was getting to him. They ran forward, keeping an eye out for more falling buildings, Sora taking the lead. Suddenly, buildings sprang out of the ground, blocking their passage. Sora skidded to a halt, spun his Keyblade, and rushed forward, slashing his way through them. The buildings broke, falling before his strength. Aurora gasped softly at that, but didn't stop running forward, jumping through the rubble with the others. They ducked through a tunnel that had more of those designs on it. When they came out of the other side, they finally got a clear view. The tower was being held in the air by two large engines.

The dragon and tower flew higher into the air, before dropping heavily onto the ground in front of them, causing it to shake. The portion they were on suddenly shot into the air, getting them almost level with the creature as it took to the air again. A path laid before them, and they ran forward.

Unfortunately, it was at the same time that a large number of buildings fell towards them. Sora stopped, looked up, then launched himself into the air, slicing through each building before it could land on them. He used the building pieces as stepping stones, making his way towards the engines.

Aurora felt power surge through her, and she lifted her hand.

" _Aerora!"_ she yelled. A whirlwind appeared around the remainder of the group, launching them into the air and onto the building pieces as well, allowing them to follow after Sora.

Floating Nobodies appeared around them as they landed on a platform in front of the right engine unit. Riku looked around, before pointing at the engine. "Throw them at it!" he called.

" _Gather!"_ Sora called, using a Magnet spell. The Nobodies were sucked into the spell, and Riku batted them towards the engine. Following his lead, Donald cast the same spell a little further away to trap the Nobodies that were outside of Sora's area of effectiveness, allowing Aurora and Goofy to do the same as Riku.

In no time at all, the entire unit lit up.

"Get out of here!" Sora yelled, and Aurora cast another second level Aero spell, shooting the group up and over to the other engine. As soon as they were clear, pure energy shot out of the engine, and Aurora knew it would have fried them if they were still there.

Landing on the platform in front of the left engine, they repeated the same strategy – Sora and Donald using Magent spells, with Riku, Aurora, and Goofy smacking the Nobodies into the engine. This side lit up, and small explosions could be heard from deep inside. Aurora cast her Aero spell again, and the group landed on the other platform just as the left side blew up.

They used the same strategy for a third time, until this side started to explode as well.

"Aurora, there!" Riku yelled, pointing towards a small entrance.

"Right! _Aerora!"_ she yelled, launching them up and to it. Each member of the group rolled (or tumbled, in Goofy's case) in as they landed, coming face to face with what could only be the energy core.

"If we brake that, we might be able to stop him from flying," Sora said.

"Right!" the others called, launching themselves at it. After a few seconds, a barrier covered it, and Creeper Nobodies appeared. Aurora launched herself towards them, chaining water and lightening spells until they all vanished, and the barrier dropped.

"You guys focus on the core! I got your back!" Aurora yelled. The boys nodded and wailed on the core again. Any Nobody that appeared quickly fell to Aurora's spells as she made sure they didn't get close to the boys. After a few more minutes, it was like the room itself decided to start attacking. A spike shot out of the ceiling, about to hit Riku. It was only because of a well-timed, desperate _Reflega_ spell from Aurora that he didn't wind up crushed. Goofy and Donald fell back from the core, telling Aurora to focus on the Reflect spells while they watched her back too, until finally, the core crashed and grew still. The room stopped attacking too, and the Nobody Symbol on the core glowed brightly, becoming a portal.

"C'mon!" Sora called, diving through. The others quickly followed.

They appeared on top of the Dragon's head. Before them sat a mighty suit of armor in a throne made of the different weapons used by each member of the Organization. The only one missing was Roxas's Keyblades.

The group dove forward, attacking the armor. Unfortunately, different weapons jumped off of the throne and attacked them, in combination with the barrier spells their opponent used. It was all Aurora could do to keep up a constant stream of Cure and Reflect spells to keep them on their feet, having backed away from the battle.

Just as she downed her last elixir to replenish her magic reserve, Sora landed the finishing blow. The dragon glowed brightly, until the group was once more transported back to the top of the tower. King Mickey and Kairi were with them, and across from them was Xemnas, who dropped to his knees, clutching at his chest.

"I need… more rage… I need more… hearts…" he gasped.

Sora narrowed his eyes for a moment, before standing up straight.

"Xemnas. There's more to a heart than just anger or hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings. Don't you remember?" he asked.

"Unfortunately… I don't," Xemnas said. Aurora's eyes grew wide at that.

 _(What…what kind of life did he have before becoming a Nobody?)_ she wondered, before hesitating. _(Then again… there are some people out there who have everything… and yet, in their heart is nothing but hate and rage. Like Manfred von Karma… or Kristoph Gavin…)_

Xemnas faded into darkness, and everyone finally relaxed, de-summoning/de-activating their weapons. Sora turned to his friends with a grin.

"Gosh, you all did great!" Mickey said happily while Sora did something akin to a victory dance. Riku, on the other hand, turned and walked a bit away. Aurora noticed first.

"Riku?" she said, following him. Hearing that, Sora sobered up and turned, following them as well.

"You're coming back with us, right?" Sora asked, putting a hand on Aurora's shoulder, looking up at his best friend, who had his back to them.

"I had given in to the darkness," Riku said, not turning. Aurora didn't need to have Athena's ability to hear the shame and regret thick in his voice.

"Riku," Aurora said, reaching forward and taking his hand. He gave her fingers a squeeze, then pulled his hand away like it was the hardest thing he ever had to do. Aurora bit her lip at that.

"How am I gonna face everyone?" he asked softly, looking at his hand, before turning to look at Sora.

"Like this!" Sora said, squeezing his face with his hands and pulling the goofiest face he could.

Riku started laughing, unable to help it, and the tension broke. Aurora reached forward, taking Riku's hand again as she laughed as well. She squeezed his fingers has hard as she could, sending him a silent message.

 _And together._

He squeezed her fingers in response, and this time, he didn't let go.

Suddenly, the whole building shook, nearly throwing everyone off balance. The shaking stopped, and King Mickey ran over to the three of them. "Hurry!" he cried.

"I'll open a path!" Riku said, lifting his free hand up. Nothing happened. "Huh?" he gasped, lowering his arm and studying his hand.

"You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku," the king said. Aurora smiled at that, thankful.

"How do we get out of here, Your Majesty?" Donald asked, turning to the King. Mickey didn't have the answer though.

Sora and Kairi suddenly spun around. Riku and Aurora glanced behind them, but saw nothing.

Suddenly, a dark portal opened. Mickey and Donald ran over to it.

"Who did this?" Donald asked.

"Welp, I'm not sure. But we'd better hurry and get through," Mickey said. Suddenly, Pluto came running over out of nowhere, barking. He ran first around Donald, then the King, then shot into the portal.

"Wait for me!" Goofy cried, running over, before going through as well. Mickey followed.

"C'mon!" Donald yelled to the four, before following through as well.

Kairi and Sora walked over to the portal, but stopped in front of it.

And that's when Aurora sensed it. A heart of pure light, just like Kairi's, was between them and the portal.

"Thank you, Naminé," Kairi said. Aurora gasped softly, while Riku jumped.

"Their Nobodies," Aurora said softly.

"They must be able to see them," Riku muttered, letting go of Aurora's hand and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He gave her a hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to save you from the Organization," he said softly, and so suddenly, like it had been weighing on his heart all this time. Aurora shook her head with a small smile.

"It's okay. I think… it had to be someone from the inside. Like Roxas. Otherwise… well, there would have been too many for you to fight your way through," she said. Riku nodded, then suddenly pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on top of her head. Aurora's eyes widened, but she melted into it, resting her head against his chest. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat was comforting.

"You're probably right. But still," he muttered.

They both stood like that for a few moments, enjoying each other's warmth, before they pulled away from each other and glanced over at Sora and Kairi. A blue light was fading from around Sora, and he was studying his hands. Riku smiled walked over to the other two, Aurora at his side. He glanced over at Sora, stopping next to him, while Aurora walked up to the portal.

"Don't worry. You're all still you," he told Sora. Kairi smiled at that and met Aurora over at the portal.

"Hey, let's go home!" the red-head said, turning to the boys.

"Riku, c'mon," Sora said warmly.

"Yeah," Riku said, and the boys started forward. Aurora and Kairi stepped into it.

The portal began to close behind them. The boys gasped, rushing forward, causing the girls to look back.

"Sora!" Kairi called.

"Riku!" Aurora cried, before the portal closed completely. Blinding sunlight suddenly shone down on them, and Aurora had to cover her eyes.

"Where…?" she began.

"Home," Kairi said softly. "We're back home. Destiny Islands. But… without Sora or Riku…"

…

 **A/N:** Tada! I love all the fluff I put between Aurora and Riku. It was just way too much fun, heh.

Also! As this story is coming to a close, I've began planning on the next one: _Turnabout Hearts – Distance_. This time, Aurora has her own adventure and travels to different worlds then what Sora and Riku go to, since she's not participating in the Mark of Mastery. I originally had worlds picked out… but then realized that some of the Disney worlds might show up in _Kingdom Hearts III_ , so I should probably branch out from Disney.

I'm thinking _Sword Art Online, Inuyasha,_ and _RWBY_ for some of my non-Disney. I need one more, or if enough of my readers don't know these shows, give me suggestions.

Really, I need four extra worlds in general.

Rules 

1) Can't be Disney/Pixar/Marvel/Star Wars, since any of those are up for grabs in up-coming _Kingdom Hearts_ games. It _can_ be from a movie, show, cartoon, video game.

2) It can't be anything that can be easily crossed over with _Ace Attorney_. For instance – no _Danny Phantom, Uncharted, Professor Layton, BBC Sherlock,_ or _Miraculous Ladybug_. I have crossovers written/planned for these, and these are all on The Legal Age (Aurora's home world), as ALL OF MY STORIES happen in the same universe/continuation.

3) Finally, please don't get upset if I don't choose your suggestion. It could be for a number of reasons: I don't know the fandom well enough, I don't think it'll fit in with the rest of the story, there was a better one, or I plan to make it part of The Legal Age at a later date.

I'll probably do a voting kind of thing in the last chapter and decide from there. Thanks, guys!


	12. Destiny

**A/N:** Hey guys! I'm getting lots of great suggestions for worlds! Keep them coming! This is the second to last chapter, so your time is running out!

Also, the main ship in this story now has a name, curtesy of Luchux. It is now called auriku, hehe.

Review Reply to Gamergirl: I LOVE LONG REVIEWS. NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR THAT! Thank you! I loved the auriku moments, and Aurora and Kairi's meeting, and Aurora's moment with Goofy. That was planned from the beginning, to be honest. Mainly because I want to find Goofy and give him the biggest hug when I go to Disney World this summer. Ahem. YES! People are finally figuring it out! Ooo… Anastasia is a good one. I'm constantly forgetting that's not a Disney movie. I'm up in the air about Rhythm Thief, only because I had an inkling of a crossover for it, but I'll add it to the list. I'll add the others to the list too! Thanks for reading! Here's the next chapter!

Alright, I give you this chapter, called Destiny. Also known as The One Where Aurora Nearly Drowns Riku.

ONWARD!

…

Chapter Twelve: Destiny

Destiny Islands was beautiful. It was what Aurora had always imagined Hawaii and paradise combined to be like. The water was blue and crystal clear, reflecting the beautiful blue sky. The sand was extremely soft and fine underfoot, and almost white. Lush green lined the walkways beyond the beach, and the palm trees swayed gently in the breeze.

It was all so beautiful.

Too beautiful.

Aurora missed Riku.

 _(It's not fair. We were finally reunited, only to-)_ she cut the thought off, fiddling with her locket between her fingers as she sat in the sand, next to where Kairi stood, just above the water line. King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy had tried to comfort the girls, but nothing they said had any effect.

Hours went by. The sun began to set, turning the sky red which faded into purple. Aurora watched it, trying to imagine Riku was next to her.

 _(How fair is it that I get to see his home… without him here?)_ she thought, dropping her hand from her locket and sifting the sand through her fingers.

Suddenly, Kairi gasped. Aurora looked up at her, only to see her staring out into the water and up at the sky. Following her gaze, Aurora spotted two shooting stars, headed straight for the water.

"No…" she breathed in disbelief, standing up and brushing sand off of her hands and shorts. She stretched her senses out to the shooting stars, which was almost beyond her senses, and gasped.

She'd recognize that mixture of warmth and cold from that heart anywhere.

Both hit the water, and Aurora's heart jumped into her mouth, hoping the light that had surrounded them had protected them from impact.

Relief spread through her when two heads popped up where the shooting stars had hit.

"Sora! Riku!" both girls called at the same time. They glanced at each other and laughed, before turning back to the water, calling again and waving frantically like idiots.

Both boys looked over, before Sora let out a small, excited noise and began swimming over, Riku moments behind him. Once they got to where they could stand, Sora did so, running through the water, towards the girls. Aurora and Kairi grinned at each other again, only for Mickey, Donald, and Goofy to shoot past them. Donald and Goofy tackled Sora into the water, while Mickey ran past and jumped at Riku. Riku caught him in a hug, grinning at him.

Unable to contain herself anymore, Aurora shot into the water, rushing past Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and tackled Riku into the water as he put Mickey down. Because Riku was further back from Sora, and in deeper water, both went under. Riku's arms flailed, trying to reach the surface, as he wasn't expecting that. Aurora flailed slightly too, until they both finally came up, coughing salt water out of their lungs.

Once their airways were clear, they looked at each other, and laughed. The King, who was standing next to them, laughed as well.

Finally, Riku's laughter subsided, and he took Aurora's hand.

"Come on. I want to show you my home," he said with a warm smile. Aurora grinned at that.

"Okay," she said, allowing the young man to lead her forward, the King following.

Once they reached the shore, Mickey left them to their own devices. Riku showed Aurora all over the small Island, explaining how he, Sora, and Kairi would come out here every day, along with another group of kids, to hang out.

By the time they reached the smaller island, connected to the bigger one by a bridge, the sun had already set. The night sky was beautiful. There were more stars then Aurora had ever seen lighting up the sky, with a large, full moon low over the water. Riku picked Aurora up by the waist and sat her on the crooked tree, staying in front of her and keeping his hands around her waist. Aurora smiled at that, resting her wrists on his shoulders, her fingers idly twirling through his long, soft, silver hair.

"It's beautiful here," she said softly.

"Yeah," Riku agreed, warmth in his voice. "I can't believe I ever considered wanting to leave."

"Only because you were curious," Aurora countered. Riku smiled at that.

"True."

A comfortable silence fell between the two of them. Aurora tipped her head back, staring up at the stars.

"I used to think they were nothing but giant balls of gas so far away that they appeared tiny…" she breathed, before smiling. "But now I know they're the lights that shine in the hearts of countless worlds."

"It's amazing, huh?" Riku said with a grin.

"Beautiful."

"Yeah." Riku never took his eyes off the girl sitting in front of him. Aurora peeked down at him and noticed that he wasn't looking up. She blushed slightly, but smiled.

A few more minutes of silence. Riku glanced up at Aurora, a question on the tip of his tongue. He was scared to ask it, but knew he had to.

"Now what?" he finally forced the words out.

"Oh," Aurora muttered, looking down. "That's a good question."

Riku gently squeezed his arms around her waist. "You don't have answer that now," he said. Aurora smiled at him, before moving her right hand from his shoulder and placing it over the Themis Legal Academy patch sewed onto the left breast of her vest.

"I think… I'm going to go home and finish my studies," she finally said. "I know what happened to Edym—" her voice broke on his name, and Riku held her tighter, "—now, but after helping and saving so many people while working with the Restoration Committee… well, helping people is what I'm meant to do. And in my world, there are so many people who are falsely accused of crimes, every day. They don't need defending in the way you, and Leon, and Merlin taught me, with weapons and magic. What they need is someone who knows the law, and has the logic and wit." _(Or bluffing ability, in Nick's case.)_ "Someone who can find the light of the truth, even in the darkest times. And I need to finish school for that."

Riku looked down for a moment, before nodding with a smile. "I think that's one of my favorite things about you," he finally said.

"Hm?"

"Your determination. Your ambition. You set a goal, and you fight for it. And from what I've seen, it's always to benefit others," he explained. Aurora blushed at that, but smiled at him. "And I'll support you in that. Even… if I can't be there, since I have to catch up on school here…" he added. Aurora laughed at that.

"Alright. But, for now, I'd just like to spend the night with you," Aurora said.

"Done," Riku agreed with a smile. After a moment, he glanced up at the top of the tree. "Do you know what that is?" he asked, motioning to the yellow, star-shaped fruit that was growing from the tree.

"A fruit?" Aurora answered. Riku laughed.

"It's called a Paopu Fruit. There's a legend behind it, you know," he said.

"Oh?"

"Mhm. When two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They become a part of each others' lives, no matter what," he explained.

"Hm…" Aurora cupped her chin thoughtfully, a small smirk growing behind her fingers, invisible to Riku. "A legend, you say? Sounds more like a myth," she said.

"H-huh?" Riku stuttered. Aurora forced the smirk away and shrugged.

"It's just so farfetched." She leaned forward slightly, her forehead almost touching his. "If you want me to believe you, you need to show me evidence. Evidence is everything to a Lawyer," she said. Riku's eyes widened slightly, growing a bit larger when Aurora smiled at him.

Aurora practically saw the lightbulb spark to life in his head, and a blush flared across his cheeks once he realized she was flirting with him.

"A-alright, Attorney Wright. What kind of evidence are we talking here?" Riku stammered. Aurora fought the urge to giggle.

 _(And here I thought he'd be as smooth as silk…)_ she thought to herself.

"Well, witnessing it first-hand is the best kind of evidence there is," Aurora said thoughtfully. Riku looked up at the fruit, then back at Aurora.

"Well then… w-wait right here," he said, stepping back and letting Aurora go. Aurora giggled, watching as he jumped up and climbed the tree. She swung her legs back and forth happily as Riku grabbed one of the best looking fruits and plucked it off, dropping back down and landing easily. He walked back over to her with a smile.

"So, all we have to do is share one for you to gather your evidence?" Riku said, _finally_ not stammering. Aurora nodded. Riku smiled and looked down at it for a moment, before carefully breaking it in half.

Inside the star-shaped fruit was a large pit, almost like that of a plum. Aurora took the side with the pit, carefully pulling it out and letting the pit drop to the side.

"On three?" Riku asked. Aurora nodded.

"One," he started.

"Two."

"Three," they said together, before both taking a bite of their halves. The sweet, yet slightly tart flavor of the fruit exploded across Aurora's tongue. She closed her eyes, savoring the flavor.

"Wow…" Riku muttered softly. Aurora opened her eyes to see he had closed his.

But that's not what made her gasp. Riku was surrounded by a soft golden light. Riku, hearing her gasp, opened his eyes and reacted in the same way.

"You're…" she began.

"…Glowing," he finished, pointing to her. She looked down at her hands and saw that he was right; her fingers were also surrounded by a golden light.

The light surrounding them grew, mingling together. Warmth flooded Aurora's system, from her fingers to her toes, and going by Riku's shiver, the same happened to him. The light surrounding the two of them suddenly shot into the air and faded.

"Wow…" Aurora breathed, still looking up at it. Riku moved closer to Aurora, wrapping his arms around her waist again.

"Was that evidence sufficient enough, Attorney Wright?" he asked. Aurora giggled, looping her arms loosely around his neck and dropping her head so that her forehead was resting against his.

"Yes. It does."

"Then I rest my case," Riku said. Aurora laughed at that, and Riku joined in.

"You're kind of a dork, you know that?" Aurora asked once their laughter subsided. Riku grinned.

"You bring it out in me," he said. Aurora studied him for a moment, while he gazed back at her. She suddenly became aware of his warm breath brushing against her lips, and her cheeks tinged pink.

Looking back on it later, neither one was quite sure who started it. One minute, they were forehead to forehead, the next, their lips were locked in a kiss. It was everything that Aurora imagined and more: passionate, warm, awkward, and right. Riku's lips were surprisingly soft, and still tasted like the Paopu Fruit. The only thing missing was the fireworks, but Aurora didn't need them – they were going off under her skin all over her body.

If it wasn't for the need of oxygen, neither were sure they would have pulled back from the kiss. Unfortunately, they were forced to. Aurora rested her head against Riku's shoulder with a breathless giggle. He hugged her, one arm around her waist, the other hand on the back of her head.

"Wow…" Aurora whispered. Riku smiled at that, his already flushed cheeks growing redder.

"Yeah…" he muttered.

…

Riku and Aurora walked along the beach, hand in hand.

"I'm going to graduate in a year. Promise," Aurora said.

"I'll be there. Promise. Maybe not _at_ your graduation, but I'll come see you once you graduate, and I'll watch one of your first trials," Riku said, lifting their combined hands and brushing his lips against her knuckles. Aurora smiled at that.

"I can't wait."

They came to a stop in front of the King, Donald, and Goofy.

"Aurora?" Goofy asked.

"Hey, guys. Your Majesty." She dipped her head in the direction of the King.

"Aurora's decided to go home," Riku said, giving her hand a squeeze. "Do you think you could take her?"

"Sure," the King said with a smile. "Which world?"

"The Legal Age," Riku said.

"That's what my world's called?" Aurora asked. Riku nodded.

"Heeeeeey! You're not leaving without saying bye to us, are you?" a voice called from behind. Aurora turned and smiled when seeing Sora and Kairi run up to them.

"Of course not!" Aurora called back. Sora and Kairi stopped in front of Riku and Aurora. Kairi noticed their joined hands and smiled at Aurora, who grinned back. She then sighed and stepped away from Riku, letting go of his hand, and hugging Sora.

"Thank you, for everything. Both of you," she said softly. Sora hugged her back.

"Of course," he said. She let him go and hugged Kairi next.

"Keep them in line, okay?" she said. Kairi grinned.

"I always do," she replied, and both girls giggled. She stepped away from her, and turned to Riku, who hugged her tightly.

"I'll miss you," he said softly.

"I'll miss you too. But the connection between us is even stronger now, and nothing can break that," she replied. Riku nodded, kissing the top of her head. She tipped her head back to look up at him, and they kissed again, this time much more gentle then their first.

Sora, Donald, and Mickey grinned, chuckling, while Goofy acted bashful, covering his eyes. Kairi smiled warmly at that, glancing slightly over at Sora.

Riku and Aurora finally pulled back, both blushing at their audience. Goofy recovered first, holding up something Aurora had thought she lost.

"I think you'll need this back at home, ahyuk!" Goofy said. Aurora gasped, taking it.

"My bookbag!" she said, unzipping it. Inside was her books, from both Themis and Twilight High, as well as the stuffed dog. Riku laughed at it.

"You still have that?" he asked. Aurora nodded with a smile, before noticing three extra things. The most obvious was a blue book. Aurora looked closer at it, pulling it out. There was no title on the front, so she opened it.

 _Spell Arts_

Beneath the title, in loopy, curvy writing, was a note.

 _Aurora. I don't know if you'll be coming back to us, so I'm sending this along with Sora, to you. This will help you practice your magic. You have great potential, and it would be a shame if you never got to complete your training._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Merlin._

She smiled warmly, putting it back in the bag. Next, she pulled out a purple ID card.

 _Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Member_. And in Leon's handwriting was her name: _Aurora Wright._

The last thing was a picture that she had taken with the Committee at the Castle Postern, celebrating the day they finally cleaned up and got through all the rubble separating the town from the castle. There was her, Leon, Aerith and Yuffie, and even Cid, Merlin, and Cloud. Aurora smiled warmly at that.

Sora watched that for a moment, before stepping forward, taking a picture out of his pocket.

"Here," he said, holding it out. Aurora looked up, surprised, and took it.

"Wha—?" she cut herself off as she looked at it.

It was both familiar and unfamiliar. It was her with the Twilight Gang in front of the Haunted Mansion. The only difference from the picture she remembered was that Roxas was in this one. Aurora smiled, holding both pictures over her heart.

"Thank you," she said softly. _(I've made so many friends in such a short amount of time…)_ she thought. Mickey seemed to get an idea.

"Wait right here!" the King said, rushing off. A few minutes later, he returned with a polaroid camera and tripod. He quickly set it up, then rushed over to the group. Riku smiled, wrapping an arm around Aurora's waist. Goofy grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulders from the other side. Sora crouched in front of them, his arms slung around Donald and Kairi, who was also crouched, while the King stood on Donald's other side.

The camera clicked, flashed, then spat out a picture. Sora jumped up and ran over, carefully taking the picture and shaking it until it became clear.

Everyone gathered around to see it, and it was perfect. The water, with the full moon hovering over it, was their backdrop, and the picture came out crystal clear.

Sora smiled and handed it to Aurora.

"Here."

"Thank you," Aurora said, carefully putting all of the pictures into her bag. Another round of goodbyes were said, with another kiss between Riku and Aurora, until finally, Aurora followed the King, Donald, and Goofy onto their Gummy Ship.

Aurora watched out the window as Destiny Islands faded away, until finally, it became just another star.

"Aurora? Are you okay?" Goofy asked. She smiled up at him.

"Yeah. I guess it's finally time to go home."

…

 **A/N:** Don't forget to continue posting world suggestions!

*explodes from cuteness/emotional overload*


	13. Home

**A/N:** Hey guys! Here's the last chapter!

Review Reply to Gamergirl: Thank you! Yeah, the Wright Anything Agency is in for a shock. This is going to be fun, yet hard to write, especially since I have to keep in mind what's going on at this point for them, haha. *opens my timeline*

As for the voting, that will be at the end of the chapter.

For now, ONWARD!

…

Chapter Thirteen: Home

It was day in Los Angeles when Aurora arrived. The King, Donald, and Goofy had dropped her off in a secluded area in Gordy Park, and Aurora was slowly making her way to the Wright Anything Agency. Despite not having seen this world in a year, Aurora knew the way.

Los Angeles was a lot more crowded then she remembered. There were so many people and so many cars. Having grown used to such uncrowded worlds, it took almost everything in Aurora not to get overwhelmed by her ability to sense hearts during the first hour. Eventually, as she turned onto the street where the Wright Anything Agency stood, she was able to block most of it out.

She entered the building and climbed the stairs, hesitating in front of the door to the Agency.

Inside, she could sense Phoenix, Trucy, Athena, Apollo, and Maya. She rested her hand on the door knob, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

"Hi! Welcome to the Wright Anything Ag—" Trucy began, jumping up and coming forward. She then got a look at the girl's face and shrieked. " _Aurora!?"_

"What!?" the others gasped. Aurora smiled weakly at that.

"Hi…" she said softly, giving a little, awkward wave.

The next thing she knew, Trucy was hugging her tightly. Phoenix didn't even wait for Trucy to let her go: he wrapped his arms around both girls, giving them an almost bone crushing hug. Both girls giggled at that, with Aurora complaining that she couldn't breathe. Phoenix finally let them go, and Trucy let Aurora go. The next hug came from Athena, then Maya, and finally Apollo.

"Where have you been?" Phoenix finally demanded, leading Aurora over to the couch.

"Well…" Aurora hesitated. _(You know what? To hell with the rules.)_

She told them everything – how there were other worlds, about the Heartless, about the Nobodies, and about Organization XIII. How it was the Organization that kidnapped her, wanting to use her ability to find someone.

"Wow. That Organization… those Nobodies, you called them? They sound… freaky," Maya said.

"And evil," Athena frowned.

"They weren't all bad," Aurora said, before realizing something. She looked up at her cousins. "I… I found Edym. Finally, after all these years." She sighed, looking down.

"Uh-oh," Athena muttered, hearing the emotions in her voice.

"What happened?" Trucy asked quietly. Aurora looked up, tears in her eyes.

"He… he had been taken by the Organization as well, but in a different way than me. He was a Nobody. He was a member of their group. And… he died. With the rest of the Organization," she explained. Phoenix's eyes widened again, and he wrapped his arms around her. Aurora rubbed at her eyes for a moment, resting against him, before continuing with her story.

"Roxas, another member, and the Nobody of a friend of Riku's, betrayed the Organization and got me away. I spent time on two different worlds, making friends, and helping the rebuild, until, well… until Sora, Riku's friend, found me, and we went back to the Organization's stronghold to save his friend, Kairi, and to find Riku himself. Working together, we defeated the leader and… well, that's it." Aurora didn't want to admit she had been kidnapped a second time. In fact, the entire time, she hadn't mentioned the man with the rapier.

The last thing she wanted Phoenix to know was that her original kidnapper was still at large. She'd never be allowed to leave the house in that case.

"You know, I think we're forgetting something," Apollo said thoughtfully. Everyone looked at him for a moment, before Phoenix jumped up.

"Oh, right! I gotta call Aunt Gwen and Uncle Hank!" he gasped, rushing into his office.

…

A week later, Gwen and Hank arrived. The first thing they did was hug Aurora and cry. Even Hank, who tried so hard not to show his emotions, cried once they held their little girl in their arms.

Aurora snuggled into them both, tears of her own running down her face, which she buried in her father's shoulder. It was about an hour or two before her parents finally released her.

"Hunny, what happened?" Gwen asked, pulling Aurora's ponytail out and running her fingers through her daughter's hair. Aurora hesitated, resting against her.

Her, Phoenix, and Trucy had decided it best if no one else found out about the other worlds. Even – especially – Aurora's parents. So, they came up with another, very plausible story.

"There… there was this cult. They kidnap their members and brainwash them, basically, into believing they weren't kidnapped, but chosen for some greater destiny. Sensing the darkness in their hearts are what kept me from getting brainwashed but… I had to act like it, to stay safe, until I could escape," she explained, keeping it vague. Her parents stared at her with wide eyes. This next part was going to be hard.

"They operated in Pennsylvania years ago," she said softly. "While I was with them, I heard stories of a young man who 'fought his destiny,' until it…" Aurora closed her eyes, swallowing past the lump in her throat. "Until it killed him. Mom, Dad, that young man was—!" her throat closed. She couldn't say the words. It felt so wrong to be lying about Edym's death; about how he sacrificed himself so that both siblings could be free of the threat of the Organization, but it was for the best, when it came to her parents.

Thankfully, her parents interpreted her cutting off for immense grief, and realized what she was trying to say. Another hour or two long hug took place as the family grieved together.

Finally, at the end of the night, Aurora laid on the couch, her head in her mother's lap. Hank had fallen asleep in Phoenix's chair, fully reclined.

"Sweetie, you awake?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, Mom," Aurora muttered.

A moment of silence. "Your father and I want you to come back to Pennsylvania with us."

Aurora closed her eyes. Nick had warned her of this, even as she prepared to take the placement test at Themis once again. Aurora shook her head.

"I can't."

"Hm? Why?" Gwen asked.

"Because. I vowed to help people in any way I could. And I need Themis for that. Besides, I already took the placement test, Mom, and you know what?"

"What?"

"I passed it with flying colors. They decided I only need a year's worth of more training before I'm ready to take the Bar. I'm so close now."

Gwen was silent for a moment. Worry spiraled its way into Aurora's hearts.

"Mom?" she asked, turned from her side onto her back. Gwen was looking down at her. Tears ran down her face, but she was smiling.

Gwen leaned down and kissed her daughter's forehead. "If this is what you want to do, then go for it, with all your heart."

Aurora smiled at that, tears of her own springing to eye. Aurora was surprised she had the water left in her body to keep producing tears.

"Thanks, Mom. I promise, I'll make you and Dad proud."

"You already have."

 **End Part Three**

…

 **A/N:** D'aw… touching mother/daughter moment at the end.

Okay, guys. So I know I know I'll have four extra worlds. However, I have decided, for sure, to do _Sword Art Online_ to replace the _Wreck-It-Ralph_ world I was going to do, and _The Bee Movie_ , to replace the _A Bug's Life_ world I was going to do.

I got a LOT of great suggestions, but again, I only need two, so after a lot of thought (and advice) I've chiseled the suggestions down to the four that works the best.

 **Remnant** ( _RWBY_ )

 **Russia** ( _Anastasia_ )

 **The Wizarding World** ( _Harry Potter_ )

 **Feudal Japan** ( _Inuyasha_ )

What you guys are going to do is rank these, 1 – 4, with 1 being the one you want to see the most, and 4 being the least. In the case of a tie, I will pull from a hat or flip a coin or something.

Rules

1\. Each person can only vote once.

2\. These are the only worlds you can choose from.

Alright! Have at it! I'm going to post a note in this story when the first chapter of the sequel is up!


	14. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Author's Note**

Hey guys! There's a midway point story between this and _Turnabout Hearts - Distance._ A lot of you wanted this, and here it is!

It's called _Turnabout Connection._ Go check it out!

AND DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY!


	15. AUTHOR'S NOTE 2

**Author's Note**

Hey guys! The third book, _Turnabout Hearts - Distance_ , is now live! And voting is closed. Thanks everyone!


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